The Noise Wouldn't Stop
The noise was present when they went to bed. For hours they lay in bed, tossing and turning until the sun came up. But through all that time, the noise never seemed to stop.
The next day, they had a civil conversation about it, but from this conversation, it was clear that they had no intention of dealing with the problem. He now knew he had to take things into his own hands. But soon, his neighbors would regret this plan.
Dave Miller
For all his life, David Miller had considered himself nothing more than an average guy.
He was happy. He had an amazing wife and a pair of twins who had just gotten into their loud "no!" phase. They lived in an average, three-bedroom home and shared a used car with surprisingly few miles piled up. But despite seeing himself as an average man, there was one thing that he knew he was exceptional at.
Creative Guy
If there was one thing he knew about himself, it was that he was a pretty creative guy.
His favorite thing to do with his kids was to build cardboard forts. He also loved solving unique family problems and he always managed to bring a burst of imagination to his job as a web designer. But little did Dave know that his skills were about to be tested by the neighbors and their dogs.
Their First Night
Dave always thought that a little barking was okay. It was in a dog's nature, so he didn't mind it all that much.
But their first night at their new home was tough. As soon as their heads hit their pillows, the sound of yaps, yips, and howls started. But this had a domino effect and soon, the kids woke up. This meant that Dave and his wife would have to get up and out of bed, and then no one would get to sleep.
Loud Monsters
When they had looked at the house beforehand, they only ever went during the day. This meant that Dave and his family had no idea that there were loud monsters living right next door.
The barking was out of hand! It got so bad that Dave decided to time it one evening. He discovered that the barking started at 7pm and only stopped at 5am the next morning! He then discovered that the couple next door worked nightshift and slept during the day.
Civil Conversation
Weeks went by, and every single night, the barking continued. At this point, Dave and his family were starting to suffer deeply.
He had no other choice but to act. He wanted to keep the conversation with his neighbors civil, and luckily, it started that way. But that didn't last. It quickly turned sour and he was left with, “Dogs bark, what do you expect?” before the door shut in his face.
Coming Up With A Plan
This was it. Dave knew he was a level-headed guy, but now things were getting out of hand. Nothing was going to change unless he acted. He knew it was time to break out those special skills he was so proud of.
The idea came to him in a flash. He quickly rushed out of the house, leaving to get the equipment. He was glad it wouldn't take much, but the results would certainly be something to savor.
While The Neighbors Were Gone
He started off by taking his secondary phone and, while the neighbors weren't home, he set it up, right by one of their windows. He made sure that it covered the area the dogs would roam in.
He then took his primary phone and placed it in the perfect spot. Watching him, his wife stared at him like he had grown a second head. "Just wait. You’re gonna love this.” He assured her.
Putting His Plan In Action
As the sun went down, the unending barking echoed through the dark streets. Dave had a smile on his face, he knew that all he had to do was press two buttons and wait.
As soon as 9am rolled around, and Dave was certain that the neighbors were asleep, he got his stereo out. He faced it at their window, pressed play, and cranked up the volume.
Creative Plan
His plan was simple but so creative.
For the entire night, Dave had recorded the dogs barking. He grinned as he hooked his phone up to the stereo and let the yaps and howls play. Soon enough, they heard an angry knock on their door.
Time For Comeuppance
Dave grabbed his morning coffee with a huge grin and slowly sauntered to the front door.
On the other side, a red-faced man with a scruffy mustache and angry eyes pointed his finger right in Dave’s face. “We’re trying to sleep. Shut your dog up!” Dave stifled a chuckle and pulled out the other phone – the one that had taken the video.
Take That!
He pressed play and said, “It’s not my dog. It’s yours. I recorded him since you miss out on what dogs do.”
The mustached man stood on the porch with a gawking stare. For good measure, Dave added, “I'm just playing the radio at normal allowable city time and I will do this everyday." The neighbor stomped off in a rage. But would it work?
But Would It Work?
As Dave strutted back into the kitchen, his wife sat at the table shaking her head, and finally let out the laughter she had been holding back. “I can’t believe you did that,” she said. “But, wow, it was amazing.”
The hours passed and night finally settled in. The neighbor’s car pulled out of the driveway. Now was the moment of truth.
Yes, Finally Quiet
It was utterly blissful.
All they could hear was the chirping of crickets and the occasional car driving by. There wasn’t even a tiny growl. The twins slept soundly for the first time in weeks and his wife didn’t look like she was going to pick up a baseball bat and handle things her own way. There was just one more thing to do.
Sharing His Idea
It was just too good of a story with a perfect outcome. He just had to share it.
He knew there were people out there who would find this useful for their own doggie problems and wanted a good, non-confrontational solution. But he had no idea that his Reddit post would go so insanely viral.
Viral Post
Dave posted his revenge story on a subReddit called “Petty Revenge” and awoke to hundreds of comments and upvotes. Clearly, people having trouble with inconsiderate neighbors were a lot more common than he’d realized.
People congratulated Dave on his clever tactic and started sharing their own stories about their terrible neighbors. And the comments just kept coming.
Nightmare Neighbors
Neighbors can be nightmares. After all, they’re just people and people can be inconsiderate. There are hundreds of articles and stories online about neighbors from hell.
There are many things you could do to annoy your neighbors or to upset the people who live in your neighborhood. Whether it is being rowdy late at night or being nosy and sticking your nose in where it doesn’t belong, most bad neighbors are simply rude and inconsiderate.
Getting Revenge
What makes everything even worse is that if no one takes a proper stand, these inconsiderate people will simply carry on doing what they do, even if people have spoken to them. However, it’s not always easy taking a stand, but sometimes it needs to be done.
The majority of the stories on Reddit subs like “Petty Revenge,” “Pro Revenge,” and “Nuclear Revenge” detail all the creative ways people have gotten back at their rude neighbors.
Inspiring Others
“I love this story. Good on you!! I swear I am surrounded by idiots with dogs,” one user wrote.
“One lets their dog stand right across the road from my bedroom window and bark constantly while their house is maybe 300 yards back from the road and where the dog actually stands so they can’t hear it. It’s maddening I wish I could think up a petty revenge for them.”
Reactions
“Good for you on that!! I'm glad they took your side!” another user praised, “I can't stand folks that are so rude and do not care about others' peace.”
“I live in apartments now, and two neighbors blare their bass up full blast vibrating thru the apt. I've asked them to turn it down, and they respond with "It's within the reasonable hours." Which is unfortunately true,” the user continued. ““I do everything I can to make sure I'm not a nuisance to my downstairs neighbors. I just wish others understood that others have a right to peace as well.”
Horror Stories
One Reddit user shared his own personal horror story about his experiences with his terrible neighbors. He explained that he’d recently moved into a large apartment building, only to discover that he’d made a huge mistake. His tirade sums up what most people feel perfectly.
“I can’t do it again. It’s either going to be a smaller, couple unit building or a small house or something,” he wrote.
Inconsiderate People Are Everywhere
He explained: “It’s not that I don’t like people or am a hermit or curmudgeon, or not used to it (grew up in NYC), but I just can’t take people’s total disregard and inconsideration for everyone else any more.”
“People let their dogs bark non stop. I swear my neighbor’s dog started barking the second leaving my apartment even crosses my mind.”
A Written Tirade
“They don’t pick up after them, whether it’s in the dog park or in the damn stairwell. Couple of weeks ago, a dog was clearly sick and had an accident in the stairwell,” the Redditer continued.
“The smell got so bad, you couldn’t even open the stairwell door and the person never cleaned it up - pretty sure maintenance finally did, I have dogs of my own, I can sympathize, but I also make sure they aren’t a nuisance to anyone but myself. ”
Losing Faith In Humanity
“People park their massive pickup trucks spilling in the spot next to it. Or they don’t pull up all the way so you have to do a 10-point turn into the spot (try parking between you giant trucks or a truck and a concrete pole).”
“Apparently they steal. Haven’t had it happen personally, but someone had a tiny Christmas tree outside their door for the holidays and the next day it was gone. Gah, rant over, I needed that.” The worst part? These are common problems.
A Common Problem
In fact, a new study on Americans’ relationships with their neighbors shows that “neighborly love” is at an all-time low - 36% of the people polled revealed that they had had issues with their neighbors that had escalated into full-blown feuds.
A quarter of the participants also said that their neighbor wars with the people living next to them had become long-running arguments. The most common reason for these feuds is exactly what you’d expect.
Parking, Noise, And Mess
The research, which was conducted by Homes.com, cited that the four most common problems between neighbors are fighting over parking space and getting parked in, incessantly barking dogs, general noise, and disputes over untidiness and mess.
And, instead of working things out or getting revenge, most people choose to address these issues with their neighbors in the most surprising way.
Simple Avoidance
40% of Americans choose not to address the problems with their neighbors at all and, instead, opt to avoid them entirely. In fact,
Northeast neighbors are more than twice as likely to say that they have rude neighbors than people in the Southwest. But what’s the most common reason for people to avoid their neighbors?
No Time To Be “Neighborly”
Most of the people in the study said that they simply don’t have the time to stop and get to know their neighbors.
However, other reasons include thinking their neighbors are “weird,” Just not getting along, and feeling like their neighbors are too nosy and trying to pry into their neighbors’ personal lives. In fact, the survey revealed that nosy neighbors were a major factor in the poll.
Nosy Neighbors
One in five Americans feel like their neighbors spy on them and keep tabs about where they are and what they’re doing. With all the issues that having a bad neighbor can cause when fights escalate,
It’s also not surprising that 16% of Americans have taken the drastic step to move house to get rid of their nightmare neighbors. So, how can you avoid moving next door to neighbors from hell?
Scope Them Out Before You Move In
Before buying your dream home, experts advise walking around the neighborhood and chatting to the neighbors.
Getting to know your neighbors isn’t just the “neighborly” thing to do, talking with the people around your potential home can make you aware of the good and not-so-good aspects of the neighborhood and its people before you make the mistake of moving in.