Complaints

Alright. I’m not sure if everyone experiences this in their lives…but my husband and I live in a secret world of complaining neighbors.  Yes, mysterious neighbors that seem friendly, seem to have the happy white picket fences, kids and dogs, and seem to wave when approached, but when something gets out of whack…one (or some) of them somewhere on our street complains to the city.  We have had several visits from the police at our door because of our snow piles come out on the road, our bushes being too lush that it blocks their view of pulling out of the street nearby (ironically, that bush is the only one that actually survives our landscaping attempts), we even had complaints that our trash can (on trash days, I must add) is distracting. We live on a main road next to a side street that is positioned in such a way that when cars pull out to the main road they are just a tad bit lower on a hill so the view is a little rough. But the view is rough because of the hill, not because of our home. I’ve tested it…in fact after cutting our beautiful bushes, taking the trash in, and plowing the driveway away from the street toward our garage so that our cars can’t get into own garage…the view still sucks.

To all our neighborly “neighbors”…here is my silent complaint:

It sucks having to feel like a parole violator and to have police show up to our door. It sucks explaining to our four year old why the good police man yelled at their bad parents. It sucks knowing that people can’t just suck it up or simply approach us with a request, one on one, instead of going straight to the city to issue citations.

To all our neighborly “neighbors”…here is my silent advice:

 Stop Scapegoating People! Take a little extra time to look both ways and your safety to pull onto the road will not be jeopardized.  If you do need to solve the issue, take time to be human and simply talk to us to explain why you need something done before issuing a formal complaint. We would be very glad to oblige knowing you asked nicely.  Maybe put a KIND request letter in the mail if you’re too scared of a face-to-face conversation- mark it as Anonymous.  Getting the city to cite us for your issues may get you a solution but frankly pisses us off and taints our impressions of you and our neighborhood.

Links:

How to write request letter: http://www.foundletters.com/category/personal-letters/page/5/

Conversation pointers: http://www.movingtoday.com/how-to-communicate-constructively-with-roommates-and-neighbors/