I had to call the non-emergency line on my neighbor for mowing his lawn at 5 AM.
By @hollyyy · Was I Wrong
He's a good guy, retired, keeps to himself. But he starts his gas mower before the sun is up, twice a week. I finally had enough.
The full story
Look, I'm not trying to be a problem. I get up early for work myself, I'm out of the house by 6:30. But this is different. For the past year, my next-door neighbor has decided that 5 AM is the perfect time to do yard work. Not with a quiet electric mower. With a gas-powered monster that sounds like a jet engine is taking off next to my headboard. I tried talking to him. I went over a few months back, brought him a coffee, and tried to be nice about it. I said something like, "Hey, that mower's a powerful one, huh? It really carries in the morning, would you mind waiting until maybe 7?" He just grunted and said the early bird gets the worm. I tried leaving a note. A nice one, typed and everything, just explaining that our city has a noise ordinance that starts at 7 AM on weekdays and 9 AM on weekends. I even printed out the page from the city website. The next day, he started at 4:45 AM. It felt like he was doing it on purpose. I work a long day. I'm tired. My wife is a light sleeper and it was wrecking her whole week. We have a baby, and it kept waking her up. We've been exhausted and miserable. So yesterday, at 5:02 AM when the mower roared to life, I did it. I called the non-emergency police line. I felt awful about it. A cop car rolled up 20 minutes later and talked to him. He shut the mower off and went inside, and I haven't seen him since. Now I just feel like a jerk. My wife says I did what I had to do, but I feel like I broke some kind of unwritten neighborhood rule. You're supposed to handle this stuff over the fence, not by getting the law involved.
How people voted
- Side A — 31% (39 votes)
- Both — 40% (50 votes)
- Side B — 28% (35 votes)
Readers are split: “Both” leads with 40% — 124 votes and 5 comments so far.
What people are saying
@inessorta — nah you messed up now its war
@dre — Why not just get him a gift card for a local landscaper? Solves the problem and keeps the peace.
@oopsie — You're nicer than me, I would've been out there with a leaf blower at 10 PM 'getting the worm'. On their side.
@danny — I feel like bringing him coffee was a nice gesture that he completely ignored, so any escalation after that is on him.
@elliekinda — My old neighbor used to practice the bagpipes at 6am. You did the right thing.
Keep reading
- My fantasy football league has a new 'anti-smurf' rule and I think it's ridiculous.
- We cannot agree on the official rules for leftovers in the office fridge.
- My granddaughter says I'm a monster for not liking her boyfriend.
- I might skip my best friend's wedding because of what she expects me to pay for her bachelorette party.
- The most embarrassing thing just happened at my own birthday dinner.