welcome to the neighborhood

subtitled:

Why I was beating on the door of #18 and ranting at midnight.

I'm on the board of our condos, and so have occasionally been involved in interviewing prospective buyers.

In June, I interviewed the fellow who bought the unit directly above me.

(anyone care to guess where this is headed?)

He was in his early 20's, and so we repeatedly asked him if he understood that this was a quiet, early-to-bed, early-to-rise kind of community.

"oh yes," young man says, "that's what I'm looking for."

OK

We vote young man in.

(ok ... now want to guess? feel free ... )


First some background ... on the first night of the olympics, I was kept awake all night by loud music, pounding feet, and loud-voiced-men in the parking lot.

OK, thinks I, it's one time.

He's having an olympic-watching party ... I'll ignore it.

But ... last night ... around 9:00, I heard the same pounding/music/shouting combination.

And it continued

and continued

and I got hot

and hotter

and hotter

until ... finally, I found myself upstairs, pounding on his door at 11:30.

Music stops, but door does not open.

No problem ... I can make myself heard -- door or no door.

"You agreed to a 10:00 quiet hour when you bought this place. I expect you to abide by your agreement."

Stomp downstairs, bathrobe flying behind me. Feet may or may not have been making sparks as they struck the ground ...

Music resumes. Pounding resumes. Shouting resumes.

Stomp upstairs, with fire in my eyes.

Louder pounding-on-#18-door.

(repeat first statement) followed by, "I won't come up here again. I'll just call the police."

Music stops. Pounding stops.

However, loud talking continues, out in the parking lot, until 2:00 a.m.

OK. It's an improvement ...I'll live with the loud talking, though I still think it's incredibly rude ...

But I'm now kicking myself for voting "yes" on this guy. :(

Addendum ...

I waited until 10:30, and gave him a call.

He responded very well, and seemed to (or pretended to!) understand the issue.

I tried to practice "love thinks the best" (see post on 1 Cor. 13), and suggested that maybe his friends were not overly concerned about the neighbors, because they weren't THEIR neighbors, but that I was sure he would understand the situation and keep them under control in the future.

I put on an "older neighbor who wants to like you, but also expects a certain standard of behavior" manner. That whole "taking charge" thing is not something I'm particularly good at, so I think God helped me strike a balance between firm and friendly.

Whew ... back to house cleaning. Dirt is so much easier to understand than people!