Tuesday, December 26, 2006

Being Neighborly


I've been living in my condo for over three years now and in that time I think I've been a rather decent neighbor. I was among the first to move into my building after all the units were sold. After about a month or so, the rest of my neighbors began to move into the building and into the surrounding buildings as well. Soon we had a true community. I hadn't lived in a condo or apartment since I was a baby way back when and it was a bit of an adjustment moving from a single family home into an apartment, most especially when it came to making noise. I'm not the usual noisy neighbor that some would take me for. Seeing as how I'm a male, people automatically make the assumption that I'm loud and boisterous at all hours of the night, but other than the odd party at my place, I haven't been all that troublesome to my neighbors.

When I watch movies in surround sound, I tend to tone the bass down if it is after 9:00 PM so as not to disturb my neighbors. When I've had parties I have usually let my neighbors know that I will be having guests. There has been only one occasion in my memory where I didn't let my neighbors know and though we weren't partying loudly, some of my friends talking on my balcony apparently disturbed the lady living next door to me. We moved our conversation indoors and to the other balcony so we wouldn't disturb her again but it made me realize just how much even a little noise could bug someone. True some people are so sensitive to sound that even the sound of the air conditioner (in the summer) or the heater (in the winter) is much too loud for them to fall asleep. I can only pity those guys.

I say all this so that I can explain why I feel a bit put out by one of my neighbors. This woman moved into the building a year or so after I had been living there and in that time she was rather quiet. Most of the folks in my building keep to themselves and don't cause a major stink. We help one another as and when we can and try our best not to disturb one another. A few months after my upstairs neighbor moved in, there was another young lady who moved into the third floor above mine. The distance between us is quite large and so I am generally never bothered by any noise she creates so I was rather surprised when my upstairs neighbor came along with a petition asking me to complain against Ms. Third Floor. Apparently Ms. Third Floor had been having parties that were a bit too loud for my upstairs neighbor. I explained that I hadn't been disturbed so I couldn't complain. She seemed a bit upset by that, but she let it go.

I also felt it necessary to explain to my upstairs neighbor that I couldn't sign a petition in her defense because I told her she was guilty of the same thing. I work early hours at my job and I try to get enough sleep so that I don't drag during the day. However, many is the time that I have been awakened late at night by the sound of heavy objects being dropped upstairs; the vaccum cleaner working late into the night; the washer and dryer doing their things in the wee hours of the morning. I have complained to her on numerous occasions that she tends to make a lot of noise at times. I never mind even if it's relatively late in the day like 10:00 or 11:00 at night but beyond that is pushing it. She's been getting better, but there's still a ways to go. I've always believed in leading by example. Hopefully she will get the hint soon enough.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home