Reasons Why:

5 REASONS WHY I DISLIKE HAVING NEIGHBORS

Living in a neighborhood where all the houses are closely knit together due to the STUPID layouts, drawn up by the TERRIBLE architects, is sometimes the worst thing ever. Or if you live in an apartment complex, you may find yourself in an awkward situation due to thin walls. I'm pretty sure you know what I'm talking about there so I will not elaborate. If not, just you wait... *Shudders* Don't get me wrong, neighbors may not necessarily be the worst thing that could happen to you. In fact, your neighbors could end up being your best friends. Or you might end up living next to that nice little, old lady who bakes you cookies just because you happen to remind her of her favorite grandchild. That, my friends, would be an absolute joy.

I have not experienced lovely grandmothers who make their neighbors feel like part of the family. So far, while being on my own, I have only been graced with neighbors who are loud and rowdy and they all quite possibly disliked my sweet and sunny disposition. (Which is something I usually don't encounter). Perhaps I'm that old lady who welcomes the neighborhood with open arms. I may not be a grandmother but I do enjoy baking, A LOT, and I am attracted to vintage clothing and rocking chairs. I pretty much do all the cleaning in the house and I try to brighten up my roommates' days whenever I have the chance. The only difference between me and a fifties housewife? Well, I would much rather not be subordinate to a man. Plus, I do not have a man. (Nor do I need one... But that is besides the point).

 Neighbors can either be a blessing or far from it. At the moment, mine don't bother me much anymore but a lot of craziness was dealt with when I first moved in. To say the least, it wasn't the least stressful thing in the world. Now, I don't really talk much with anyone around my house except for the occasional "Hello!" when I'm out walking Westley. Everyone seems very cordial, but there are just some days when I just want to rip my hair out and give some people a piece of my mind. It's not just here... The Highlands were probably the worst apartments to live in. EVER. Except... I loved my roommates there and we are now good friends. So that was certainly a blessing. But those other college kids around us were crazy and stereotypical and I hate them.

Although I have moved on from the apartments riddled with partiers whose IQ score matches their shoe size, situations with neighbors can still be annoying at times. What makes me slightly angrier at these situations, however, is the fact that my current neighbors are full grown adults. (And their child, but he doesn't really cause any problems, so I don't consider him as a contribution to my anger). Even then, it's not the wife. She's pretty nice and cool, as far as I'm concerned. But her husband is the source of many problems that I would much rather not deal with. He's a cooky character who happens to be drunk whenever I happen to see him. He's even worse than

1. Karaoke parties aren't exactly the coolest party in the world but they sure can be noisy. And not fun to listen to, espeically when your neighbors aren't exactly world class singers. While I do not condemn them for their lack of perfect pitch, I do wish that they wouldn't turn everything up so loudly. It's not like there is any outside noise that they must drown out. We live around old people who are generally quiet. (Except when provoked, of course). I thought that I had left the days where the world around me was shaking due to a riveting bass line... but apparently, I'm doomed forever to endure the parties.

2. While it's true that I've had my fair share of encounters with drunk people since becoming a college student, that doesn't mean that I'm now extremely comfortable with associating with people who are wasted. Especially when it is someone you've talked to a maximum of ten times and who is many, MANY years older than you. You expect to be on friendly terms with your neighbors but until they have become your actually friends, I don't think it's appropriate for them to knock on your door, while drunk, and ask you to come sing karaoke with them. Perhaps it is alright to invite your neighbors to your home whilst sober, but slurring your words while holding a beer isn't exactly what I'd call impressive.

3. They can be scary. Especially when they jokingly tell you that they are planning to murder you. (At least... I hope they were joking). While I don't think they would have a reason to kill me, unless I made them really angry for some reason, it's still makes me very uneasy to think that his joke could be a cover for some truly dark ulterior motives. I pray every night that my fears are silly but I can't help but jump at every bump in the night, thinking that he's at my window with a knife or something. (Yeah... I know that this post just got really dark all of a sudden and I apologize. I can't help that my neighbor says creepy things. Just think about how I feel!!) I try to take a little comfort in the fact that the man's wife was there and was completely horrified at what he said. She told him, "You don't say things like that!" and tried to make me feel a little better. However, who is to say that it wasn't a cover up?

   
4. Now, I know that the recession has been extremely hard on Americans, yet I  still don't believe it's right to try and swindle your college-aged neighbors out of money. Look, I know that they are in need of money and I feel terrible about all that, but I honestly don't have any moolah to spare. I work to pay for rent, gas and school. And sometimes food... when I don't have enough money, I don't eat. (At least, not much). I already have enough stress in my life without my neighbors banging down the door, angry that some of my weeds grew into their yard. They claimed that this was against the rules of the gated community and though I am all up for keeping the place looking spiffy, I do not believe that they would charge you a fifty dollar fine because of them. I may not know much about how this place work, but it seems to me like they would give out a courtesy warning like they do with everything else. 

5. They confuse you with your other roommate and start yelling at you and make you cry. Or they just see that you're you and then make you cry. Although this has only happened once, and when we first moved into the house, I would not be surprised if it happens again. Of course, this time around I will be much better at handling their craziness. It'll take a lot more than yelling at me because of unruly weeds to make me shed a few tears. However, please don't take that as a challenge if you're my neighbor and you happen to be reading this. Can't we all be nice to each other? I know this post may seem a bit mean, but I honestly don't think that my neighbors are mean people. Just a tad silly. I truly don't hate them... but some of the things they do aren't desirable qualities for any person to have.