I am so frustrated with our upstairs neighbors.
First of all, let me say that the couple who lived above us last semester were pretty loud.
They exercised in their apartment everyday and tended to vacuum around 10:30 at night 2 or 3 times a week.
While I often complained to Brad about the noise, I never talked to the couple about it because it really wasn't annoying enough to start something over.
And then the current couple moved in.
I honestly think that they couldn't possibly be any louder.
I'm not sure whether they are just constantly wearing work boots and high heels as they walk around, or have hearing problems and need to have their TV turned way up, or if their front door gets stuck so they need to shut it really hard, or what...
But they are very loud.
I've been getting more and more annoyed as the weeks have gone on, and especially as they've done exercises that involve jumping while we're watching Lost or the Office at 8 o'clock at night.
And especially on the rare occasion I go to bed before midnight and I can't sleep because it sounds like they are stomping around or jumping on the bed.
Unfortunately, my prego hormones kind of increase my emotions ten-fold, so this weekend I finally boiled over.
I wrote them a note addressing the noise issue and left it at their door.
I will admit, it was pretty passive-aggressive and because they don't know me or my sense of humor, they apparently thought it was "extremely rude" and decided to write us a note back.
Now, I was expecting them to perhaps apologize for the noise, explain that they didn't know how loud their everyday activity was sounding to us, and maybe sympathize with the fact that I am 9 months pregnant and barely sleep as it is.
But no.
They write back with all this crud about how they are "never up past 10" and never exercise "later than 7pm" (which are both bull) and how they choose to live here, as do we, which is why they would never complain to their neighbors.
They suggested we take some of their "options into consideration" in the following list that they so nicely listed.
1. Find different apartments with better insulation
2. Move to an empty apartment on the third floor
3. Invest in ear plugs.
Maybe it's just me, or is that SO RUDE?!
Perhaps my initial note was a little too bold, but I tried to let them know in it that complaining is not something I would normally do and I was only doing so because it really had gotten to a point where I couldn't handle it anymore.
Brad practically told me that I shouldn't be angry they wrote such a mean note back because of what I had written in the first place.
But I would not have written the note if they hadn't been so rude for the past month and a half!
Anyway, I wrote another note today that I really wish I could give to them, but Brad won't let me.
In it, I apologized for the first note and the fact that they didn't understand the jokes I made about what sounds like sumo wrestling and roller blading.
I explained that even regular things like closing kitchen cupboards or a lively conversation can be heard by us downstairs, so if they could keep their activity to a minimum during the apartment quiet hours, it would be greatly appreciated.
I also pointed out that they ARE up past ten because I can clearly hear them walking around, watching TV, running the dishwasher, etc.. and they I know they did whatever jumping exercises they do past 7, because it was the most annoying while trying to watch Lost on Tuesday from 8-9.
Yes, this second note is definitely more upfront than the first one, but it's because their response just makes me so angry!
I tried to be as lighthearted as I could while still trying to make them understand that they are really, really loud, but I guess that's pretty hard to do without some types of people getting offended.
Anyway, I wrote a new note that is very short, basically saying that I'm sorry for the first note and that I just wanted to point out that what can sounds like normal noises to them can sound very loud to us and asked if they could keep their noise level to an minimum during quiet hours.
I figure i'll leave it outside their door with some brownies or something.
The real me would very much like to give them my original response note and maybe even complain to the managers, but because Brad thinks that this whole thing is stupid and pointless and doesn't want to have to apologize for my behavior, i'll try and just back down and let the rude people continue being rude.
BUT if they ever wake our baby up while she's sleeping, Brad is not gonna stop me from letting the anger fly.
3 comments:
Kim, I agree with you wholeheartedly. We live on the 3rd floor, and try to be as considerate as we can, and I think we are pretty quiet, I don't think our neighbors can ever hear us. living in any apartment building, it is important to remember your neighbors, because we are all so close, and living right on top of each other.
I realize that it is probably easy for them to get defensize, but they are finding excuses for their behavior, when they should just try to be quieter. It doesn't make ANY sense for them to say that you should move somewhere else, because you have lived there for longer. It is completely rude for them to say that they basically don't care about anyone but themselves, and they are going to make as much noise as they want, when you live in an apartment building, you really can't be that way.
Kim, when you have the baby, just let her SCREAM....hahahaha then maybe they will see how well you can hear them :)
Wow, I know that I would be seriously ticked. I mean...they could have apologized or SOMETHING. I know with me, sometimes I play my music really loud (it's how I was raised...still stuck with me) but I always do it during normal hours or when people are at school. I guess some people you just really gotta be patient with. I think that the brownies and new note will make them feel bad about their note. But then again, with their attitude, I don't know. You never know til you do, though.
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