I’ve got this horrible neighbour upstairs who might possibly be the loudest person in the western hemisphere. Walking around in heels for hours at a time, phone rings so loud that it’s more effective at waking me up than my alarm, constantly screeching furniture around all day everyday, blasting the same annoying movie at random times, and slamming doors every 15 minutes.
The apartment isn’t even that bad for noise seperation, I never hear the neighbours beside me or the ones under me. This woman is just annoying and I’ve gone upstairs before to tell her to stop blasting music at midnight in the middle of the week, she treated me like I was the maniac for having the audacity to knock on her door.
As I’m laying in bed last night after getting woken up and hoping today is the day she drops dead, I was wondering why she even needs to close doors. When I lived alone I don’t think I ever closed doors, maybe the bathroom on occasion but this old woman lives by herself with no pets yet she’s constantly slamming doors. Do people normally close doors often when they live alone?
I have neighbours like that. I’m usually very self conscious about being the one who’s noisy but they can get it, I don’t care. Their kids, barely teenagers, are still up when we go to bed, screaming at each other in their bathroom where we can hear them verbatim. Or being out in the evening on their trampoline in the front yard, we can pretty much join the conversation.
I’ve been in the situation where I heard people moving their furniture around almost daily. It’s usually not what you think it is. Most people have no idea how their noise affects others. It can just be someone falling in their seat on the couch that can make it sound like they’re moving the couch. This is why our couch is up against the wall, so it doesn’t move. We have those little felt things under chair legs to prevent scraping noise. We take our shoes off inside the house. And if we do watch movies, tv or listen to music, even when having a modest party, we keep the music at a reasonable volume so we can still have a conversation.
It’s common decency that loads of people don’t do because they are inconsiderate. Not because they’re inherently bad people, they just haven’t been taught to take others into account. And they get away with it because those who do, usually avoid confrontation.
I understand some people are ignorant but I’ve talked to this woman about the noise a couple times and I’ve had the superintendent talk to her. I would not be surprised if her other neighbours have also complained. The reason I know she’s just annoying is by her reaction of being told she’s loud. A reasonable person would say sorry and try to change but this woman considers it a nuisance if I tell her she’s being excessively loud.
I read that you did, indeed. I think it’s commendable and a whole lot better for your personal wellbeing than just lying back and taking it. Thing is that the best case scenario is that they’ll say they never realised how their actions have affected others. It’s however far more likely that they think you’re being overly sensitive and that it can never be that bad. It’s sort of similar to having a spouse who snores. You can tell them they snore all you like, they’re not hearing it and they really won’t know what impact it has on you. Short of you recording them, or them moving into your place while you go stomp around upstairs.
Your neighbour possibly already thinks that she’s being as considerate as she can be, in the sense that not blasting music or watching movies, or walking around in heels, is limiting her in her freedom. She’s not going to stop doing stuff she wants because someone else is hindered by it. It’s the same type of person that blocks the aisle of the supermarket whilst having conversations with others. Those who run elbows first through a crowd to get a place up front. Those who talk through movies. They are oblivious to what effect their actions have on others.