epiphany

First Troubles

My neighbors have a very nice stereo system, and they enjoy using it. I haven't had any problems with it until late this week. The walls of my apartment building are thick, so I can't hear any of their music unless I'm in the hallway heading downstairs. But I can hear their subwoofer, and that, unfortunately, seems to be in close proximity to my bedroom wall. I can't hear it in my livingroom, but the bass plays quite clearly in my bedroom (and bathroom). Bass' omnidirectional nature is always an acoustical problem.

After two mornings of very early bass waking me up, I was considering talking to them and asking them to turn it down a bit. They've always been considerate in the evening, with the music stopping or getting turned down significantly by 10:15 or so. Unfortunately, last night it started up around 11:30 and went until at least 1:30am. I got up and knocked around 11:40, but no one answered the door, despite the fact that I could hear voices talking above the rap.

I had to go to work early this morning (yes, on a Saturday--one of the few of the year), so I typed up a note, which I thought was very polite. When I got home late this afternoon, the note was taped to my door. At that point I realized I had written my own apartment number on the paper, so I though maybe they had just transferred it over, thinking someone else had taped it to the wrong door. I could hear the music playing again, so after dropping my stuff off in my apartment, I went to knock on their door to introduce myself and chat a bit, just to make sure they didn't get the wrong tone from the note and to explain it was only the bass that was bothering me.

Well, I knocked once and heard the same girl and guy as the previous night talking. They started saying some rude things and called me, in third person, something I won't repeat. The girl said, "Man, he doesn't know what he's getting into." They then pretended to have a shotgun (with some very fake shotgun pumping sounds). I knocked again, determined to ignore their shenanigans, since I was there to be nice and resolve things in person. The guy said to call 911 because the crazy guy from 302 (which is actually their apartment) was bothering them again. I stayed put, waiting for them to open the door, because surely this silliness couldn't continue. Then they threatened to call the management (and faked it). Never once did they talk to me. They simply referred to me in third person and loudly made up their stories. After two or three minutes total of waiting, I realized this was pointless and went over to a friend's house for supper.

Behavior like that makes me suspect certain things, but suspicion is no aid to neighbors. I've tried to communicate with my neighbors, but they plainly have no interest in chatting. If they continue to play their bass loudly at inappropriate times, I'll just have to talk to the management. It's certainly not what I want and should be totally unnecessary among adults.

But apparently, such is life.

The whole thought of having problems with my neighbors brought back the same feelings I had at the house. I really didn't want to come back to my apartment tonight, which is the first time I've felt that way. I didn't want to come back to potential strife. It made my stomach hurt like it hurt most of the spring and summer. Over the past two months, I had forgotten what strife felt like. I'm really hoping that I can forget the feeling again.

Posted by jonhanneman at October 1, 2005 9:49 PM | TrackBack