The People Downstairs
I'm not one to judge people before truly getting to know them, but thus far, I've been less than impressed with the people on the bottom floor of this duplex we've moved into. To start with, it's a couple, a young man and woman, who own a dog. I don't think they're married, not that it's relevent, I just want to clarify that I'm not calling them "the husband" and "the wife", but "the man" and "the woman". So, I met the woman while I was first insepcting the house after having decided to rent it and had been accepted. She told me that they had been parking on the left side of the driveway, but that the man had hoped we might be willing to swap with them. I said that should be fine, figuring Melissa would want to park her car closest to the house to save five steps of walking. But it turns out that our neighbors had an ulterior motive. Parking on the left is a pain in the ass, because there are lots of prickly bushes against the side of the house. If you park next to the neighbor's truck (he parks in the driveway, she in the garage), you can't get out on the passenger side, and you get scratched up getting out on the driver's side. It's even more cramped in the garage, not that she has it any easier trying to get out without hitting our car with her door. Because of this pain in the ass, I've elected to park my new car in front of the house, on the side of the street for now. I probably won't do so in the winter of course. Anyway, I'm ticked that they talked us into letting them have the easier side of the driveway because they knew we didn't know any better. Next time they ask for something, I'll be sure to ask why.
The first time I met the guy, he didn't say more than "hi" while pulling up int he driveway in his truck the first Saturday morning while I was playing outside with Katie. He went inside looking disheveled and lugging a half empty case of beer. That night, Melissa let me go out to do something (I forget what), and when I got back, Katie had already gone to bed. Melissa told me that the neighbors had been playing loud music and making a lot of noise, so she went downstairs and knocked and asked them if they could please keep it down because she had a little girl she was trying to get to sleep. Apparently the man acted acted all put out by the request but obliged her. Later the next week, Melissa got a call from the landlords. The man had called them, complaining about Melissa bothering him by coming down and asking him to keep the noise down, and then complained that they could hear Katie stomping around upstairs all the time. Now, I'm not a fan of conflict, but when my wife had a problem with their noise, she acted like an adult and went and spoke to them face to face, and this guy acted like a dick. When they had a grievance about us making noise, did they act like adults? No, they whined to the landlords like a pair of children. And this was only after complaining that we had asked them to not be so god damned loud. When I found out about that, I was pissed off. Act like a man, jerkweed. Don't tattle like a baby to someone else.
Next, the trash. I didn't know at first what day was trash day here. At the old place, we just put our trash in the dumpster, and the dumpster magically emptied every now and then. Here, you put the trash in cans out by the side of the house, and wheel the cans to the street on Friday. As I said, I didn't know this, so I just kept putting the trash in the cans. One day, I saw trash cans by the road up and down the street, all empty. The garbage truck had coem and gone. Had the people downstairs bothere to wheel the trash to the curb? No, and the cans where almost overflowing. The next week, I knew what day, but again, because I was unused to the event, I forgot to do it. Did the neighbors bother to take care of it, considering the trash cans were full to the brim? No. They did not. Finally, I got it right, and wheeled the trash cans to the road. It was awkward and took some manuevering, what with the cans being so full, but I did it all by myself, while the neighbors sat inside and did nothing. At least they were courteous enough to wheel the empty bins back to the side of the house after they'd been emptied, but apparently that was just because they had trash to throw away and figured they might as well. The second week of me getting it right, they didn't bother moving them back. I left them by the road too, not wanting to be the god damned trash person for the entire household, and the finally moved it that evening, probably because it was an eyesore.
The latest thing they've done (and I say they, but honestly, it's been the man each time that's been the pain and the shmuck, while the woman has been nice and friendly) is that this morning I took Katie to the park. When I returned, the shmuck -- er, I mean the man had parked his truck in front of the house where I had been parked. That's not such a big deal normally... after all, there's enough room in front of the house to park two cars, and Melissa and I had done so several times already. But this asshole, did he make room for a second car? No, in fact he parked his god damned truck in such a way as to make it impossible for anyone else to park behind or in front of him. Every time we've parked in front of the house, we've been polite enough to park and leave room for another car, should they need to park there. EVERY TIME. And yet, he can't show this simple courtesy back. Refusing to park against the bushes in the driveway, which already left an ugly scratch on the side of Melissa's car when she tried to back out one day, I parked in front of our next door neighbor's house.
We're not the best neighbors in the world, I know that, but this couple... more specifically, this MAN has been completely inhospitable toward us since we've arrived. I know they had a whole month of the house to themselves while the landlords moved out and before we moved in, but we're here now, and this guy needs to stop acting like a dick and start acting like a human being.
The first time I met the guy, he didn't say more than "hi" while pulling up int he driveway in his truck the first Saturday morning while I was playing outside with Katie. He went inside looking disheveled and lugging a half empty case of beer. That night, Melissa let me go out to do something (I forget what), and when I got back, Katie had already gone to bed. Melissa told me that the neighbors had been playing loud music and making a lot of noise, so she went downstairs and knocked and asked them if they could please keep it down because she had a little girl she was trying to get to sleep. Apparently the man acted acted all put out by the request but obliged her. Later the next week, Melissa got a call from the landlords. The man had called them, complaining about Melissa bothering him by coming down and asking him to keep the noise down, and then complained that they could hear Katie stomping around upstairs all the time. Now, I'm not a fan of conflict, but when my wife had a problem with their noise, she acted like an adult and went and spoke to them face to face, and this guy acted like a dick. When they had a grievance about us making noise, did they act like adults? No, they whined to the landlords like a pair of children. And this was only after complaining that we had asked them to not be so god damned loud. When I found out about that, I was pissed off. Act like a man, jerkweed. Don't tattle like a baby to someone else.
Next, the trash. I didn't know at first what day was trash day here. At the old place, we just put our trash in the dumpster, and the dumpster magically emptied every now and then. Here, you put the trash in cans out by the side of the house, and wheel the cans to the street on Friday. As I said, I didn't know this, so I just kept putting the trash in the cans. One day, I saw trash cans by the road up and down the street, all empty. The garbage truck had coem and gone. Had the people downstairs bothere to wheel the trash to the curb? No, and the cans where almost overflowing. The next week, I knew what day, but again, because I was unused to the event, I forgot to do it. Did the neighbors bother to take care of it, considering the trash cans were full to the brim? No. They did not. Finally, I got it right, and wheeled the trash cans to the road. It was awkward and took some manuevering, what with the cans being so full, but I did it all by myself, while the neighbors sat inside and did nothing. At least they were courteous enough to wheel the empty bins back to the side of the house after they'd been emptied, but apparently that was just because they had trash to throw away and figured they might as well. The second week of me getting it right, they didn't bother moving them back. I left them by the road too, not wanting to be the god damned trash person for the entire household, and the finally moved it that evening, probably because it was an eyesore.
The latest thing they've done (and I say they, but honestly, it's been the man each time that's been the pain and the shmuck, while the woman has been nice and friendly) is that this morning I took Katie to the park. When I returned, the shmuck -- er, I mean the man had parked his truck in front of the house where I had been parked. That's not such a big deal normally... after all, there's enough room in front of the house to park two cars, and Melissa and I had done so several times already. But this asshole, did he make room for a second car? No, in fact he parked his god damned truck in such a way as to make it impossible for anyone else to park behind or in front of him. Every time we've parked in front of the house, we've been polite enough to park and leave room for another car, should they need to park there. EVERY TIME. And yet, he can't show this simple courtesy back. Refusing to park against the bushes in the driveway, which already left an ugly scratch on the side of Melissa's car when she tried to back out one day, I parked in front of our next door neighbor's house.
We're not the best neighbors in the world, I know that, but this couple... more specifically, this MAN has been completely inhospitable toward us since we've arrived. I know they had a whole month of the house to themselves while the landlords moved out and before we moved in, but we're here now, and this guy needs to stop acting like a dick and start acting like a human being.