I could cheerfully strangle the little kid across the street

For hours now the sound of a basketball bouncing. Over and over again, monotonous and repetitious. Doesn't this kid have any friends to go play with. It's friggin' cold too. He's out there all the time and he's too young to be practicing for a team. Sometimes his father kindly allows us to enjoy his music selections loudly while he washes his too large for the driveway boat. Do you have neighbors who you either hate or do they just have habits that annoy the shit out of you?

• you shouldn't have moved there. when in rome, do as the romans do. why don't you do something you enjoy with your time? If it's bouncing a ball, do it. If it's playing your music loudly, then do it. If it's washing your car, do it. Do NOT bash people who are doing what they wanna be doing just because you've got a big stick up your butt. If you don't have a big stick up your butt but need a big stick up your butt, do it. stop hating and live and let live.

  The%20Ropers

• illegal rooster next door...rat poison may be on the menu soon

• Sic yer HOA or the police on 'em!

• Yes, inevitably there's an R1 who suggests that when people behave in unneighborly, offensive, stupid ways that negatively affect others, it's your fault and problem for noticing. Obviously such claptrap comes from the same people who are the human turds making life less pleasant for everyone else. BUT to the point, you just have to anonymously report the family for child abuse or domestic violence, poison pets that are too loud (two words: gopher bait), find out where they work and call their employers posing as collection agencies, and call when the spouse (either sex) is out - with number suppressed - and say that the other one is running around on them. And with any luck R1 will be the neighbor involved. Better yet, I hope R1, who confuses self-protection with the hate, has a next-door tenant to her basement apartment who has bedbugs, a howling dog, and six months of garbage sitting there as the meth lab perks away.

  Good%20luck%2C%20OP.%20You%20the%20man.

• R1 is a nightmare neighbor.

• I love R4

• So far so good. The guy next door is a single father and one day I heard the kid screaming followed by a lot of yelling in Spanish and then a loud BANG! against the wall. It had me worried for a about an hour. Then he came to my door and asked if I'd seen any cockroaches. I hadn't but sure enough, a few days later, there was one in my bathroom looking feeble and slow, easily squashed.

• I've had more kids pulled outta me than a burnin' orphanage!

  Evie%20%22Speci-mercial%22%20Harris

• You're gay. Get over it.

  Happiness%2C%20not%20bitterness.

• Loud neighbors reduce property value.

• This is what happens when you live next door to immigrant Hispanics. They have no class.

• I have an asshole neighbor who is clueless. We live in a condo and his kids run up and down the hall from 6 am to 11 pm. Those little snots weren't enough, so they went and bought a dog who, the minute they leave the house, cries and cries and cries for hours. The dad's a complete dipshit, and even better, he was supposedly part of the team of developers who built this condo. His company went belly up, though. Not a surprise.

• Yeah poor people seem to think the entire apartment is their house and their flat is just a room. I live in a poor building and we have Black Africans, from Africa here. They haven't a clue. I can excuse them as they aren't from America, but really they put their trash bags out in the hallway. No we have a garbage in the alley out back. They're nice enough but they just don't understand certain things. Like one guy wanted to get his mail and lost his key to the mail boxes so he just broke it open and got his mail. Another time, another guy forget his key so he just broke the window to the lobby and then went to the maintenance guy and said, the bulding window "got broken." I know cause I hear them talking. They speak English pretty damn good for Africans.

• "Do you have neighbors who you either hate or do they just have habits that annoy the shit out of you?" No! I could never live like that. I live out in the country on a farm. You know, OP, that there is land for sale all over the country at bargain prices, and you don't have to live under the conditons which you complain about unless that is your choice. I suspect that you just enjoy complaining, because nobody is holding you hostage there.

• R14 some of us can't afford to just up and move on a whim.

• [quote] No! I could never live like that. I live out in the country on a farm. Translation: I couldn't possibly live anywhere near black people! I live far away from everyone else, but then complain incessantly about my property taxes, the price of gas, and anything else that is a direct result of me living in Bumfuck, Egypt.

• OP lives in an efficiency apartment in Iowa and has nothing to do all day so he makes up unbelievable little stories that never happened and pays to post them on an old ladies website. Op is a very sad little man, I'm embarassed for him because he doesn't have the common sense to be embarrassed for himself.

• Um, R17, I live in a 2000 sq. ft house.

• Yet, r17 is right there, waiting to beat op with her big ol' handbag!

• R16, I am not complaining about anything. There is no such thing as "black people". Humans are just humans. s/R14

• I've always enjoyed the sound of a basketball. I've never understood why people get so irrational over a common, non-malicious sound. If it were bass-booming music, or heavy metal, I'd understand. But a kid playing basketball? It's fine with me. Besides, kids like that make neighbors far superior to silent shut-ins staring out their windows, impotently raging over the sounds of ordinary life.

• Happy people always make such a racket.

  Coco

• At least the kid is OUTSIDE. Please do not make it so the boy can't enjoy being OUTSIDE.

• Same kind of noise here, OP! I bought myself a basketball (I'm female) and now bounce it WITHOUT END (I'm pretty good at roundball) on my driveway until the kids with their soccer ball kicks into their deck or their lacrosse thwacks into a shed or their basketball thuds cease. The lacrosse kid actually cut through a yard to see who the incessant bouncer was. HA!

  Lives in Rome

• I could cheerfully strangle people with poor writing skills. Next time, try hyphenation of multi-word adjectives, OP. "too-large-for-the-driveway boat"

• Make the little dribbler some special cookies!

• "Get off my lawn!!!"

  OP

• Putting up with a wailing, screaming, loud talking kid for 8 years now. I've posted about it a few times. We've gotten people to sign petitions, called the police numerous times, written letters, had neighbors talk to them, and they refuse to control their son when he is outside. When he is misbehaving, they put him in the backyard. They live 3 doors down and over a block. Cannot enjoy our backyard when he is outside. Fucking hipster parents. Next door: basketball 2-3 hours a day. We moved here years ago--before both families and when my mom who lives across the street and whom I care for passes, then we will move. I dread summer because of these inconsiderate assholes. Oh, and the basketball people have 3 fucking chickens with a pen next to our fence below our bedroom.

• It's natural for a dog to shit where and when it needs to, you hating asshole! I'm going to kill you!

  R27

• Ummm What's your address? Your name?

  *dialing*

• GET OFF MY LAWN!

• I've known several people who simply cannot tolerate hearing normal sounds from those around them. One of my friends lived in a condo. When she was in her utility room where her washer and dryer were located, occasionally she could hear water going through the pipes to her neighbor's washing machine. It drove her crazy. She never heard the neighbor any other time, but she could not stand even that much sound. She sold her condo at a loss to get away from it. Kids dribbling basketballs and playing games are normal sounds. Anyone who is that upset should live in the country where he's miles away from the nearest neighbor.

• I used to have barking/howling dogs in the yard right behind me (went to animal control court a couple of times but the owner never showed up and must have just paid the fine). Those people moved and for a while it was blissful silence...until one Friday night I heard all kinds of racket and it turned out to be a bunch of kids jumping on a trampoline and screaming their lungs out. It's a real tossup as to which is worse. Probably the dogs because the kids' parents eventually get them inside.

• A dribbling basketball is like a leaky faucet because it's at timed intervals which can drive some people out of their minds. Not everyone has the same tolerance for noise. I can't stand gum crackers for the same reason. Makes me go mental.

• (R4) what???!!! huh???? sorry i can't hear you!!! i'm busy bouncing the ball on your faggoty ass. stop trying to blame others for your shortcomings and neurosis. you're gay. face it. now stop spewing hate and go have some fun in your miserable life. maybe you should move to a gay area where you can be with your own seedless kind.

  Dad

• You've got it easy, OP. The girl in the apartment above mine killed herself. In the weeks leading up to it, I could hear her weeping upstairs late at night. Then one day the place was packed with police, firefighters, and EMTs for most of the day and she was gone. No one knows how she did it, but they removed all the carpet, and the guys they picked up from the Home Depot parking lot to do it just dragged the big cut up pieces down the staircase. It left a dark slimy sludge trail down the stairs (outdoor staircase) that we had to complain about to get properly cleaned. Some pale whale moved in not too long after. I usually call her The Hippo. She stomps across my ceiling at all hours of the day and night. Even knowing her girth, I have no idea how she makes so much noise. My apartment is too small for me to get away from it, sadly. I'm poor -- spent too much time having a good time when I was younger, didn't squirrel away any nuts for winter. The Hippo and her equally obese boyfriend are always either fighting or fucking. He slams doors and I think punches the walls when he gets mad. As bad as that is to listen to, I honestly prefer it to when they're fucking. The sounds those two rutting pigs make are disgusting. I get ill thinking of their pasty, chalk-white fat rolls, all greasy and sweaty and bunching together against each other. The boyfriend at least seems to know how disgusting the two of them are. As soon as he squeals indicating he's done he rolls off the bed and gets into the shower. She always stays in the bed and continues making noises. I imagine it takes her some time to catch her breath given how out of shape she is! The only good thing is that I know that they'll be quiet the rest of the night after that and I can get some sleep! I wonder if the leasing office told her about what happened up there to the girl before her... I should get that Brazilian TV show to do some prank on her like that ghost girl in the elevator clip...

• We'll be seeing R1 on an episode of this show soon

  http%3A//investigation.discovery.com/tv-shows/nightmare-next-door

• [quote] Anyone who is that upset should live in the country where he's miles away from the nearest neighbor. I'd love to. Unfortunately that would mean a 4 hour commute or more daily to my job, and that is NOT an option.

• I used to live next door to a Duran Duran cover band.

• R13 is the 'mos troll. Just happened to come up yellow. Of course he's bitching about "Africans" in this post. Complete loser.

• City living? I live in a very diverse neighborhood of big old houses in a city. The neighbor across the street has four dogs and leaves one outside in the side yard all the time because it won't stop barking. And it disturbs him in the house. (It's barking now.) He has four vehicles on the street. He has recently had a woman move in who turns tricks when he's gone, and who stands on the sidewalk screaming for him at 2 a.m. (twice this week) He dug up his front yard AND the street without a permit, and left it that way for six months. Two doors down the "Christian family" has nervously watched for years to make sure I don't get near their peculiar teenage sons. One of the little darlings set fire to a portable toilet during a neighbor's rehab. I didn't report him. The 30-something hip-dip contingent told me I was racist and insensitive about cultural differences when I said I was going to call social welfare about a next-door neighbor who was leaving her teen daughters alone for days at a time, with the 14-year-old being abused by grown men showing up. (I'm biracial but they can't seem to notice.) The attorney across the alley who came home drunk twice and wrecked my gate backing into it was thrown into federal prison for pocketing drug money. His Cuban girlfriend proceeded to take over the place and leave pit bulls in the back "for protection," and, yes, they barked nonstop. the Lutheran Church on the corner? An anchor? They have Africans come for services on Friday night and they yell standing in the street (traffic backs up) and leave dirty diapers in front of my house. It must be one of those cultural things I'm insensitive about. The Lutheran pastor tried to have one owner evict the gay couple across the street from me because "they have a school here." He also accused my partner of being a dangerous influence. Shortly afterwards he put the make on my partner. Ugh. Basketball noise? One of the 30-somethings (none of them take care of their houses, of course; it would be "uptight.") put up a basketball hoop in the alley "for the neighbor kids." Other than the arsonist and his brother, there are no kids of that age. So we have "urban youth" (aka early 20s) showing up at all hours, banging the ball and smoking dope. The police finally suggested it be removed because of problems they were causing. They were furious because "everyone is racist." These are whites, of course, who have never had a black person in their house. But the day-care center woman (illegal) across the street has a fat young adult daughter who isn't allowed a key, because she is troubled and can't be trusted in the house without mama being there, and she comes to my door asking for a phone and money. Nope, dear. No more. And our phony faux-Orthodox Jewish 30-ishes two doors down? Well, they pretend to follow the rules so every Friday night they stand out front making noise until 11:00 because it's too boring to stay inside. They walk down to our house because our place is nicer and they can sit on the nice steps. And they have chickens that - I like the noise - disturb everyone else. Cock-a-doodle-doo! I ordered 10 boxes of Girl Scout cookies from shrieking Rachel because I like the chickens. And I figure all this is normal today. You deal with what you can, check your priorities and sensitivities - and don't put up with nastiness that degrades you or others. Present company excluded.

• R2, if your neighbours are keeping the rooster illegally, why not report them? It is disgusting to poison an animal because the owners are idiots or inconsiderate scumbags. I also have problems with other people's pets such as dogs that are allowed to bark too much, and cats that are allowed to wander onto my property because the owners don't give a crap about anyone else. However, I would not take it out on the animals because they are owned by arseholes. I can sympathise with you, OP. You have the right to peace and quiet in your own home. Aside from pointing it out to the people that it is a bit annoying when it goes on for so long (they may not realise), there's not a lot you can do. Perhaps try to block out the noise somehow (earplugs when reading etc).

  Good luck!

• OMG, R41. Everyone mocks McMansions in the lily white suburbs, but at least it's nice and quiet here. Call me intolerant and racist if you like, but I could never live with that kind of chaos. I'd do anything to get the hell out of there.

  white%20flight

• When we moved into our current home we had a 2 1/2 year old son. We bought him a sand box and placed it out in the back yard. A week or so later, he was playing in the sandbox and was holding something in his hand... I realized it was SHIT! I was so pissed... I went through the sandbox and found several pieces in there. A few days after, I was standing at the sink looking out the window and noticed my next door neighbor's cat standing in the sandbox, taking a dump. I was SO PISSED! I gathered up all the crap and tossed it into their swimming pool. Keep your fucking pets inside!

• R44, that's why covered sandboxes sell so well.

• r44 - You really couldn't foresee that one? I hope you're not home schooling.

• I live in a very diverse neighborhood with totally oblivious neighbors. They aren't malicious, just completely clueless, full of witless energy and apparently able to sleep through anything.

• 10 or 11 year old kid lived next door with his meth head mother who was absent for days at a time. They had no internet, television or phone. When they first moved in I did not think he was old enough to be left alone. Caught him on the roof with a BB gun shooting into my yard. I confronted him in the act. He denied it and starting calling me a crazy old man. I am not that old and did not mind his comment. Druggies came and went from the house around the clock as well as the sheriff and cops. I understood what was wrong with this kid although I did not appreciate his yelling things at me every time he saw me. One day I was out taking my walk and he came by on a bike harassing me with threatening comments. I confronted him at his house, his mother was inside although he denied she was there. I told him I considered his actions threatening and if he ever did it again I would file a police report. That was the end of it and they were soon evicted.

• Kind of sad R8. The kid will be in prison for most of his life.