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Neighbors Are Creepy

May 24, 20231 hr 10 min
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Summary

Lauren and Bobby delve into the unsettling reality of living next to strangers, sharing personal anecdotes and historical context of neighborly relations. They discuss the challenges of maintaining privacy versus fostering community, the absurdities of HOA rules, and various bizarre and terrifying real-life neighbor stories, including the infamous "Watcher" case. The episode highlights the unpredictable nature of those living nearby and the importance of security.

Episode description

This week on Everything is Creepy: Lauren and Bobby discuss the creepiness of living next door to a stranger(s)!

Leave a voice message and YOU could be featured on Everything is Creepy: (929) 390-8464‬

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Transcript

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Are Neighbors Creepy?

Hey, Lauren. Hey, Bobby. You know what's really creepy? Mr. Rogers. People. Well, then Mr. Rogers. People that live close to you or next to you. Like Mr. Rogers? Yes. Also known as our neighbors, Mr. Rogers. Neighbors. He's a menace. I don't care what people. You know he's telling me to have a good day and treat people nicely. As a ghost? Because he is deceased. Oh my God, is he? Who have I been talking to the whole time?

I don't know. Who's our neighbor? I don't know what neighbors you're hanging out with. Bet you guys didn't see that creepy twist. I didn't know. You didn't know Mr. Rogers passed away? No. It's Tom Hanks, right? What? Tom Hanks is Mr. Rogers. He played him in a movie, right? Yes, he played him in a movie. We watched the movie. When did he pass? Oh, look at him. He just looks so nice every time I see him. Lauren, he died 20 years ago. He died 20 years ago? He died in 2003.

Well, I talk to him all the time. Well then. He's my neighbor. He was my first neighbor. Could you like to elaborate on your Mr. Rogers experience? Well, he's my first name. From the grave. It was Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood. And as kids, we lived in it. Beautiful day in the neighborhood. Yeah, exactly. Neighborhood. Will you be mine?

That's how I connected it. He was my first neighbor. Didn't he say hi, neighbor? Yeah, hi, neighbor. See? How you doing, neighbor? It connects. Let me take off my shoes and put on my loafers. I'm not crazy. And my little cardigan. Even though I might look crazy to the visual listeners because I'm just...

feeling up a little. To the visual listeners. To the visual listeners, but also to the audio listeners. If they're still available, I have bread plushies. Bread queen plushies. And they turn inside out. I guess I'll do it, but I didn't want to. On one side, for the audio listeners, it's a happy loaf bread. It's very cute. And then on the other side, it's an angry toast bread. Toast. Yeah.

Defining Neighbors And Their History

So neighbors, they're creepy, aren't they? Would I be considered your neighbor? Sure. I'm your podcast neighbor. Yeah, you're very creepy. How is it trying to work next to me? It's very rough. Especially today. I had my feet on your laptop. Yeah. You're off the rails today. I don't know why. I don't know what's going on. Because we ate before the podcast. You got a bunch of food energy? Yeah.

Yeah, normally Lauren's like, before she eats lunch, she's like, I'm tired, I feel good. And then I'm like, did you eat? No. And then you eat, and you're like, oh! Then I have energy. Maybe you have low blood sugar. Isn't that a thing? I could. I should talk to somebody about that.

Just talk to your friendly neighborhood doctor. Just talk to my doctor. Yeah. Mr. Rogers. He knows a lot. He might be able to help you with that. So do you have the meaning of a neighbor? I do. Are we defining what a neighbor is? I am. Go ahead. Okay. I was going to start something else, but I need to know what a neighbor is now. I was using Chad and I didn't know how to utilize him that well.

I see that. This was a different topic for Chad. He wasn't as... This is just going to be an unhinged topic. So for anybody wondering, we've had this on our topic list for a while because it's a good topic. However... Vibe and I have been like pretty fortunate on the neighbor front. Yeah. But we do have stories either that I know from other people or from the internet. Yeah. Personally, not really any.

stories that i can think of off the top of my head at the moment that i've been brainstorming that i've had just normal neighbor experiences nothing crazy nothing creepy I have some stories from other people. Do you know the meaning of neighbors? I don't, apparently. Well, the term neighbors originated from the combination of two words, near and dwellers. Ooh, I'm a near dweller.

The word near refers to proximity or closeness while dwellers refers to people who reside or live in a particular place. I did not know that. The merging of these two words resulted in the term neighbors which describes individuals who live near or close to one another. This is going to be the greatest podcast. Everybody better be reading this specific podcast episode like a 10 out of 10. You're learning so much. The concept of neighbors has been a fundamental part.

of human communities throughout history with people forming connections and bonds with those who share geographical proximity. The term has since become widely used to refer to individuals who live near each other, fostering a sense of community and independence. All I'm picturing is like... Like Audio Boom, who helps produce the podcast, trying to pitch our podcast to a sponsor and being like, would you like to be in this episode? They define the word neighbor.

And they talk about what neighbors. But wait, wait, there's more, Lauren. Oh, no. Do you want to know the history of people being neighbors? Sure. Isn't it like they just, people were, what?

Evolution of Neighborly Relationships

Why is there so much written? So much. There's so much. Chad had so much to say about this. This is the most unhinged episode I did not anticipate it being this ridiculous. I need to know now. No, now I'm curious. Now I think everybody's curious. I thought it was good because it.

When you think neighbors, oh, the person who lives next to me, but it means more. Does it? It's people that live in, like, your community area. Like, your direct, I would count a neighbor, like, anybody who lives within walking, general walking distance for me. What's a general walking distance? Like, I don't know. Let's put a definition on it. Like six houses.

like on either direction or across from me well you're wrong so the history of people being neighbors dates back to the earliest human civilization people are probably like you can walk to six houses that's it well first of all our neighborhood is very spread out so that's why i said six. It would take you a while to walk through six. As humans began to settle in specific locations and transition from nomadic lifestyles to permanent settlements, the concept of neighbors emerged naturally.

In ancient times, neighbors were primarily determined by geographical proximity, geographic proximity. People who lived in close proximity to one another formed small communities or village, often sharing resources or providing mutual support. These early neighbors relied on each other. Do we rely on our neighbors? No. So that's why I wanted to discuss the history. They rely on each other for various aspects of daily life, such as agriculture, defense, and social interactions.

In agrarian societies where farming and cultivations were prominent, neighbors played a crucial role in agricultural activities. They would collaborate during planting and harvesting series, sharing knowledge about farming techniques and exchange surplus produce. This independence fosters a sense of community and cooperation among neighbors. Wow. Do you feel that nowadays? No. Do you feel a sense of community? Oh, is that what this is all leading to? The conversation of what a neighbor is now?

I feel like now it's just somebody who lives near you. Throughout history, the concept of neighbors has also been influenced by cultural, religious, and political factors. Boundaries, both physical and social, were established to define territories and differentiate between different communities or groups of neighbors. Conflicts and alliances between neighboring groups have shaped the relationships and dynamics between them.

As societies evolved and became more complex, the world of neighbors expanded beyond mere geographical proximity. Urbanization and the growth of cities further redefined the concept of neighbors. Is that it? In densely populated areas. Neighbors became individuals living in close proximity, often within the same apartment buildings or neighborhoods. The sense of community interaction among neighbors can vary widely depending on cultural norms, social dynamics, and individual preferences.

in modern times advancements in transportation and communication have further shaped the nature of neighborly relationships people can now connect with their neighbors beyond physical boundaries like Mr. Rogers. Oh, through online platforms, social media, allowing for virtual communities and digital forms of interaction. The history of people being neighbors, the story of human cooperation in interdependence. And so.

While the nature of neighborly relationships has evolved over time, the fundamental idea of living near and engaging with those in close proximity remains an integral part of human societies. And we are not doing that.

Childhood Neighbor Experiences

Well, we are not. That's what I mean. We. Other people are. You and I. Yes. Were you close with your neighbors growing up? Yes. Yeah, I was too. I was going to say, were you about to be like, you ruined my point. No, I was. Were you?

Yeah. Where are they now? I don't know. Your parents still live in the same place? I've never seen your neighbors. There's that one, the one people next door, which I think are newer and moved in after you. Yeah. The person who did live there, I was friends with their son. So there was a lot of...

Like growing up on my street, there was, I was actually the youngest because the people next to me, they were in a grade above. Next to me was also a grade or two above. And then a couple houses down the street. It was like one or two and then three grades above me, but I was really good friends with them. We hung out a lot. And I have a fond memory of us throwing rocks at each other. Did you all hang out on the street? We hung out on the street. We played football.

Was it as dangerous of a street as it is now? Yes. Because people like to cut through. Yeah, but it's also like a bend. So it's kind of hard to see. If you're flying around that bend, it's kind of hard to see what's coming up. Yeah. Yeah, I was I feel like pre Internet technology, you were friends with a lot of your neighbors. I think you are. People are now, too. It just depends where you live. Yeah.

I mean, I'd say it's not as common, especially kids. Yeah. It feels like that. It feels well, that's just my our personal experience. But we also live in like more separated. I feel like if you go down south or if you live in a gated community or something where you have to run into other people all the time, then it might be different. I mean, I know my parents are friends with their neighbors, even the people who have moved out, the new ones that have moved in.

So wait, so you said, is that all you would like to add to your childhood neighbors? Yes. Because I thought it would be good to go through each of our living situations because then they combine at one point and then we have a shared neighbor experiences. but um before that i mean i was friends with like people like a street away across the road so like in the general area i had friends like sporadic

I had a lot of friends on my street. There was only one other girl, but it was good because she was the same exact age as me. They had already been living there, I believe, and then my parents moved in and they came to bed and they were like... If somebody, if we had moved, no wait, because we didn't have Melody at that point.

We're just not good at going over to people's houses, I was going to say, because then it would be on us to like go introduce ourselves to the new neighbors. Yeah. But if I found somebody that had a kid that was like the same age as Melody. and their parents didn't seem super weird or creepy, I'd be so excited. I'd be like, yes, play dates. Very easy. Walk across the street. That's basically what my mom and her mom did. And then we went to the same schools and.

That was my best friend all the way up until like high school. But the thing because like I was talking about this with my mom upstairs before we came down here. We're still technically like friends, but we weren't we became like not best friends in high school.

There was no like reason. I think because we met when we were babies. Yeah. And then you eventually grow up into people. At that time in high school, we both had very different interests and then thus started hanging out with people with the same interests. But we didn't have a falling out or anything.

I said, I was like, like if she comes into town and wanted to hang out or I go into her town, I'm I'm hitting her up and asking her. But yeah, so that was good that I had like another girl my age. But then we had my cousins down the street. So they walked over all the time. Then we had.

Right next door to us, they watched their grandson a lot. He was like two years older than me. Then down the street, there was two other boys. It was all boys, though. Then there was like, yeah, Ryan, cousins, friends. We had a bunch and we had, we were on a big hill. We lived at the top of a hill. So it was, and it was not a busy street. It wasn't like steep. It was just gradual. Yeah. But it was good for like riding bikes or like rollerblading or whatever.

And the bus stop was right at the bottom of our street. So we just walked down the street every morning. And it was also good because it was a quiet street and you could and it was a one way street. So you could always see if a car was coming like mile like a mile away. Yeah.

Because there was a bad accident at one point down at the bottom there because there's another hill. And if somebody came up and over that hill, you couldn't see at the same time. So there was an accident. And they actually changed it. Wow. Yep. I definitely.

Because the thing is, if you come around that street and then there's the hill that's the one way, I used to just, you'd have to turn, go all the way around and come back up my street to get to my house. So sometimes I would sneak through it. Illegal. Illegal.

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Growing Up with Neighbors

But what's funny is like all the neighbors to the right of us, I knew. And then we had a neighbor right next to us, but they didn't really have kids. They had older kids and we knew them, but didn't really like hang, hang out with them. And then everybody else to the left of them, like we had no association with. And also all the neighbors that we were friends with were all family members. So like, so the girl that I was close with across the street.

Her uncle lived like right next to us. Her grandpa lived right next to him. Their other grandpa lived right next to us. That's crazy. And then one of their other uncles lived at the bottom of the street. Their whole family came in and just took over. Yeah, like we were invited to their family reunion barbecue because we were right next to them. They were like, yeah, just come over. So I was just ingrained in their family. But it was nice because everybody kind of knew each other and got along.

So, yeah, we had really good neighborhood. But my mom did remind me of after we had left, like I wasn't living there at the time, but her my best friend's grandfather. in his later years, was driving his car. His driveway is asleep. So basically, picture our house, and then across from our house is a very steep driveway.

that the grandparents lived on. And for a while they were trying to get their licenses taken away because they were like, I don't think they got into a couple of close calls. And. All of a sudden, one day, my mom just walks out of the house. I don't know how she did not hear this. I don't know if she was.

out of the house she's probably yelling while she's listening to this podcast the correct answer but at some point my mom comes out like comes out to our front yard and just sees a car like on our front yard and it had like plowed through one of the fences it was like just in the front front yard and it was the neighbor's car that had just gone down. I guess they were in the car, him and his wife.

And they were going down the driveway and lost control. I don't know if he either had like a heart attack or stroke or what while he was driving, but basically like hit the gas and went down the driveway and like over the pavement. And we're super lucky that they did not hit the house. They like somehow stopped. They went over that like.

They almost went over that cliff. They didn't go over the cliff. They didn't. They stopped right before. I was going to say, there wasn't that much room. It would have been way worse if they went a couple more feet. There was a little cliff. But I can't imagine my mom literally walking out and just seeing somebody's car that had run into the thing. And then she looks at the car and nobody's there. So she...

Very confused. And she realized it was their car. So she called my like best friend's mom because that's her father and told her. And then I'm pretty sure they got their licenses taken away after that. But that's the only crazy story I can think of from our neighbors. I also know that one time I think my mom knows this, but now she's gonna. I snuck friends into the house senior year of high school just like during the day. Well, yeah.

I think I told her this later on, but our neighbors definitely saw the ones on the other side and we were trying to like sneak in. I was like, and I had such anxiety for weeks that they were going to tell my mom. Snuck your friends in during the day.

So we skipped school. Oh, you skipped school. You didn't mention that. Oh, sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry. You had friends when we were doing a day? You're crazy. We skipped school. Gotcha. And then we like tried to, I snuck them in to like hang out at my house. before the end of school and then go back because I lived right near the school. As did I. Our neighbors saw and I was terrified they were going to say something, but I don't know if they ever did.

Did you ever go home? It was literally us sneaking through the woods. We like had parked and then tried to walk through the woods so nobody would see us go to the front of the house. For a while, my school was okay with people leaving for lunch. I would do that. Oh, yeah. They got rid of that right when I started. Or leave during a free period or whatever.

And I would go home and like eat microwave White Castle sandwiches. I would eat White Castle. I would eat White Castle. Yeah, we did doing that a couple of times, like eating ramen and crappy food. I don't know why. That's what I remember. Hot Pocket. Yeah, probably. Hot pockets, microwavable white castles. I would never know. I would. Maybe if I was drinking. Yeah. Or if I just really needed it. Then I guess college.

yeah neighbors um dorm dorm neighbors or no yeah i guess i would count a dorm i mean i did it was like a mini dorm like a house it was more i would say it's more of like a dorm than a house it had i think that's more would you count that as a room i would say that was roommates yeah but like as far the first place i lived in we didn't really have neighbors we had farms by us and then when i lived in a house or yeah when we lived in a house

We had neighbors, but we were college kids. So there was no, didn't know them. Yeah. No, there was like, we were intermixed with like families and other college kids. And the same with the other houses and nothing is that I can think of is coming to mind. We were just lucky that we never had issues with like cops coming for like all the, we would have like, you know.

Bands playing in our basements and parties and stuff. Yeah, I wouldn't count neighbors unless you like owned a place and were with other people that. Not a renter. What about an apartment? Or no, renter. No, I would count renting.

First House Neighbor Interactions

I meant like if you're dorming, that's a little different. Yeah, I mean, we were renting. We were renting apart like houses. No, I know. Well, I rented before. No, you had a house and I was renting. I will say one of the weirdest things is. which I don't know if this is true, like for everybody, but in New York City, we never.

I didn't know any of the neighbors in any of my apartments, which is weird because you're in very close proximity to one another. Yeah, but I guess like everyone's doing their own thing. You're in and out. You're not really like, you're not like outside of your apartment socializing. Even if I did see somebody.

was like hey and that was it then you never saw them again yeah i don't don't have any even when our first apartment that we shared together well the new york city one yeah i don't remember anyone but then when we moved out of new york city

I don't remember any. Oh, yeah. Sorry. Yeah, we had two people. Because of the dogs. The dogs. Yeah. We met one girl that had Paddington. It was so funny because when you're like... Was it Paddington? Yeah, it was Paddington was the first one. In New York City?

Oh, no. That was New York City. I was talking about Jersey. I thought the one in... I don't know. Yeah, maybe you're right. There was only that one guy on the street. He wasn't our neighbor. I mean, I guess technically lived in the area. Yeah.

No, I was talking about when we moved to Jersey. We met the one girl when we first moved there, but she moved out that had Paddington. They had like a play date the one time. And then we met the one couple that had the French Bulldogs. Yeah, they were nice.

Didn't they watch Dexter the one time for us? Yeah, I thought the Paddington one of them did. I thought it was the couple. So we're like going to their house? Was there another couple that we met? No, I thought it was just them. It was just them? Okay. But yeah, that was, yeah, we met nice neighbors there, but we didn't like hang out, hang out. And we never had any really issues. The only time we had issues was our one like neighbor was complaining about Dexter barking.

They're like, oh, he's barking all day. And then we set up a camera. And he was barking for like five minutes. He would bark when people would walk by, which, you know, it's a dog. Yeah. And then when and then he'd bark for like five minutes when like. they would drop mail off or something or package. It's only when something happened. It wasn't all day. It wasn't just sitting there by the door barking all day. And we're like, you're crazy. We even like set up a camera to tell the.

the main building people. And I remember we asked them and they didn't think it was a big deal. They were just like, eh, like try to, just try. Just try. Try to shut them up. But we were moving out soon anyway, so we didn't care that much. our real first neighbor experience like house yeah uh was our first our first house our first starter house starter house our little house on which we had

We had the neighbors behind us who were nice. It was a couple. Yeah. We invited them over to like, we had our, the party. Yeah. Was it our engagement party? Yeah, we were trying to be nice. See, we did try. We went around and told people we were trying to be nice. We were like, we just moved in and now we're going to have this huge party.

And so we were nice and went around just to introduce ourselves. And we said, hey, like, just let us. Oh, we even gave our phone number. We were like, let us know if we're being too loud or whatever. And we're like, and totally stop by if you want to like. Yeah, that was super nice. I feel like we would never do that now. No. That one guy like came and like looked through our house and stuff. Yeah, that was pre-YouTube.

Or like, yeah. Yeah, I think now I think YouTube is ruined by like trust. Yeah. Given me. Sorry. Given me severe trust issues to the point. I remember that one guy came. Remember that old lady who lived there? She was. One of the like, yeah, from that's the guy I was talking about. And he like went and looked through our house. And at one point, I didn't know he was there. And I just like came in. Yeah. Who the hell are you?

And he's like, oh, I live down the street. And he was like a rocker guy. Yeah. So he had like a drummer in a band. Jet black hair. Yeah. He was like all black clothing. And then we had. Yeah. He was nice, though. And then we had the neighbors next to us. So pretty sure the guy's name is Wayne.

He has two sons that live there. Oh my God. I do remember with them. We did have a couple issues. Yeah, they were nice, but they definitely like they block because we were on a dead end street where the last house like we were and they were the ones right next to us. So they used to like. pop up chairs and just like sit right in front of where our driveway was. The guy was nice and he would always like. Which is fine. Because anytime I had to go out, I obviously was like. Yeah.

The second we tried to go or somebody came, they got up, but it was just like a little weird. We're just like, oh, like we got to ask you to move every time. And they would take up our spot. We had a parking spot. Across. Across that they would like use without asking. And we'd have to tell them to move if we needed the spot.

Yeah, it felt like it wasn't our house. It was like we were sharing it with somebody else that we had to go like check in with them and be like, hey, did you move your car? I need my spot. Yeah, it was funny. He had a little dog named Harley. Oh, and then.

Oh yeah, I miss Lauren. And Dexter, because Dexter always likes little dogs. She was like this little fat old chihuahua. Yeah, she would just come over and she would go in because she could fit in between the fence. Oh yeah, we would just find her in the backyard. We'd just see her in the backyard hanging out.

Dexter. That was the first time I ever met that dog was I just opened the door and Dexter's hanging out with this little Chihuahua. I was like, where's this dog coming from? And we just hear him yelling. Oh my God. And then he'd come over and like poop in the yard and just waddle back. Yeah, I didn't really care.

I was so sad. Then they got the pit bull. The son had the pit bull. Remember that? Oh, that's right. It was a puppy, yeah. Yeah, it was good, I think. I remember being good. I think it was good. It was a little crazy because it was a puppy. Yeah, yeah.

Neighborly Disputes And Confrontations

It was fine. I don't remember having any problems with it. Yeah, we never. Well, I had a Christmas party with my friends and they called the cops on it. We don't know who called the cops, but I mean, rightfully so. At 1 a.m. we were out just yelling outside.

i'll never forget so we had like a like a small little like sinkhole at the beginning of our driveway and i patched it oh and i i put like a plank of wood and then a whole bunch of um what did i put like bags of i think cement and i put a big big cone on it so people would see it. Because what they would do is they would pull into our driveway to turn around. Oh yeah, they would turn around all the time, which also, as my anxiety grew with YouTube, sometimes people would like...

try to turn in our driveway, but they would sit there for a couple minutes because they were probably trying to figure out where they were going if they got lost. It was a weird street. I hated, I thought it would be nice living on a dead end street. No, I would, I would live on a dead end street if it was a cul-de-sac. A cul-de-sac would be nice. But not where worse.

the only driveway everyone can turn around in and so anyway so i had that thing there and i remember being like all right there's a huge freaking cone on it. There's no way anyone's going to hit this. And of course, at like 1 a.m. Boom! Smash! We had a security camera, I remember watching it, and I saw him smash into it. I remember you going like this. Yeah, I was like, you got to be kidding me.

dude it was it's because they just go in like not thinking and yeah it was very easy to say um wait what about the other guy you're gonna talk about the other guy that was stealing like oh yeah butter clay or whatever that was weird ruin the so we had a little there was a little stream that ran through our yard and it was you know it was it went farther up and down and whatnot and

One time I was out there and I see this old guy in the stream with a rake. No, picture this. When you walk out of our house, because we're the last house on the street, if you look to the left, there's just woods. There's a wooded area. And that's technically part of our property. Yeah. So if you walk out of our house and you just look to the left, you see this old man in the woods, like doing something. Yeah. You're like, why is this man?

Like, there's no reason he should be there. That is not a public area. He literally came into our property. Yeah. So I remember I went and confronted him and I was like, hey, how you doing? Like, you're on my property. What are you doing? What are you doing? Oh, he's like, oh, I'm just, I'm getting, he was, I don't remember if he like spoke, I think he spoke like broken English, but he. Wait, was that the old guy that was like.

at the end of our street that always was outside was it no no i don't that was not him I forgot about that little guy. There's an old couple that was gardening and stuff. But no, I don't. I hope it was. I don't think it was him. No, I think you would have known. Yeah. Anyway, so he said it might have been him.

I never thought about that. I thought he looked different. He walked down there. He didn't drive over there. No, he was walking. He definitely lived global. He's like, I get the mud he used for his garden or something like that. It was probably that good. It might have been. I never thought about that.

But I was like, okay, like, you know. Also, he could have came and asked us. Yeah. Just so you're not freaked out that there's a random man. If you would have asked, I would have been like, that's completely fine. I don't care. Take the mud. I don't own the mud. But you're on our property. Like, it's a little weird you're there.

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Balancing Privacy And Community

And then one day the cops came or I saw the cops. They were like walking around. They were walking around like our yard in that general area. And I went out to them. I was like, hey, how's it going? They're like, oh, it's like. all backed up because there's all like it's flooding upstream and we're seeing if there was like a downed tree or something. And what ended up happening is the guy like damned up.

the stream so he could i think if he could get across or like because we could more easily collect the mud um so they like they cleared that out it fixed the flooding and then he came back And then I went up and I was like, dude, you got to stop. Like the cops are here. Oh, I'm sorry. Okay. It was weird. Neighbors are, it is weird having to like deal with people that you don't want to.

with that kind of like weird stuff. And the stories I have, there's plenty of more. I think that's why we liked. the house we're in right now so much because like we have neighbors but you cannot there's really no interaction there's no need for them to come anywhere near our front door or in our area like if somebody was in our area at this house I'd be like okay they like there's something going on

They're trying to find something. They know us. Yeah, it was. That was weird. But other than that, I do. Oh, and I remember. the sons would have parties a lot. Yeah. Next door. And you could hear our bedroom was like right next to it. I mean, it kind of was fine because I always need TV to fall asleep anyway. Yeah. Like silence. So I'd kind of, it was a little annoying thing. It was annoying. Yeah. There was one time they.

invited us over when we first moved in remember we went over there yeah we did just to like see but it wasn't our like i feel like they were younger and not we had a younger son who was younger than us i think the older him and his girlfriend invited us yeah because they were like being loud or whatever they were

come stop by. But yeah, that never turned into anything. But I do remember. So I'd be like waking up to go to work. Yeah, I feel like this is the only because we were very close to the neighbors like so you could hear. Yeah. I mean, to be fair, they probably saw some weird stuff on our end because that's when I did like the mannequin head thing. But dancing in the snow outside with it.

Yeah, the guy was, the dad was really nice. Yeah, he was nice. Actually, everybody was nice to us, but we kept seeing things that they would do and we're like, what are you doing? Like, I'll never forget, I'm like, going to... uh what's it called work in the morning when I was working an office job I'm like up I don't know 7 a.m go to my car all of a sudden I just hear like like

like having a somebody having a domestic next door like obviously not violence I would have called somebody but like just two people like screaming full on screaming at each other at 7 in the morning like names and whatever the heck and I'm like okay well okay I'm going to work so excited to start my morning with hostility from next door

I was legit scared a couple times. I was like, this sounds like an intense fight. Yeah, but the guy who owned the house, the main guy, he was nice, and I would go sit. Honestly. Oh, yeah. From Porch and talk. We'd talk. He was nice. He did like to talk because every time we'd come back from Walking Dexter, I was like, oh, no, I'm going to want to talk. No, he was really nice. And he was sad to see us go because we were good neighbors. Yeah, I was. He was the only person that I was like.

felt bad telling that we were moving away. Yeah, I liked him. But hopefully they like the neighbors that are there now. They seem like a nice family. And then our, yeah, so our house now would be our next neighbor. I met, we know one, we met the, I met the one neighbor when we were moving in.

exchange phone numbers we've texted a couple times when like there was a package down by the uh mailbox or if there was a bear in the area he sent me like a video when he was driving they bring us um oh my god i can never say even bark is that sounds right holiday yeah um for that it's like a muslim holiday but every year except for the pandemic year we sadly did not get them but every year before and since we get these like little pastries that they make for the holiday

We just got them like a couple weeks ago. And I'm always so excited. I'm like, that's the most interaction we have with our neighbors. Yeah, I mean, when I walk next to her, I'll see people. There's this one guy who lives like around the block. He's probably a little bit older than me.

and i see i don't know if i guess he works from home or whatever he does but uh it's just hard wave and say hi and like it's a weird dynamic it's weird because the thing is nowadays like you have your group of friends especially when you're older And unless you're looking to make friends, like you're not out there actively trying to engage your people. What's like a member around the block every time we walked by because it was like a cul-de-sac.

area and they were all out with their kids. Yeah. Barbecues. I'm like, that's what I want. Yeah. Like, should we just go over there? I live. Do you guys watch YouTube? We're neighbors. Can we get invited to your block parties? But yeah, that's something that we think we might want in the future is like, it's hard because if you go to a neighborhood.

And you meet people and then it like doesn't work out that it's awkward. Now it's like, okay, well, do we have to invite these people all the time? We don't really like hanging out with them. Like, or if you have an altercation with somebody, like you're stuck next to them. That's the worst part. I feel like it's just like.

if like if you had an altercation with like your roommate when we talked about roommates like that sucked because you were stuck with that person in your room but like neighbors is just is like the equivalent of that when you no longer need a roommate it's like if you piss off your neighbor next door

or vice versa. It's that awkward, awkwardness of being like, Oh, what if I run into this person? What if I go to the car? What are they going to do? What are they going to do to my house? Like, yeah, I think it'll report every little thing I do. Yeah. And I know that there's I mean, I'm sure you have the stories, but like there's some crazy. Yeah, I read there's there. You know, there's I've seen videos on tip. That's like what?

I feel like that's one of the most popular TikTok videos is just neighbors being crazy. I mean, you never know who you're living next to. It could be just the absolute psychopath. And it's hard because it's like if you're paying for your house, like you own that property and everything that you want with that property is like it's your house. You want it to be the way you want it. So if somebody is like ruining that for you, it's not an easy.

You know what I mean? Like if somebody next to you is like being super loud all the time, like all day long, there's not really anything anybody can do. I don't think if it's during the day. Not really. Not. It depends. If you're in an apartment, something that you can. But I know you don't like being close. Yeah, I don't. I think after our first house, I don't ever want to be that close. I like. Yeah, I like privacy in the sense that I just don't want people like right.

I would love to have a community. Yes. But not neighbors right next to me. No. I just don't want people to see every little thing I'm doing or like hear them or whatnot. Because my parents asked like.

They're surrounded by people. Yeah, you can see like five houses from their backyard. Like all the houses around them can see everybody's backyard. I don't feel like you have any sort of privacy. Not that I'm trying to like walk around naked or anything, but you just want to be able to, I don't know, like... I like being able to, I don't know, be, do whatever you want without judgment. More so just like, I want peace and I don't want, I want peace. So I don't want like people.

next super close next to me doing stuff I mean I hear plenty you know there's even though we don't live even though the house where we live now the you know like houses are a little separated but you can still hear things you can hear kids like playing

because of how spaced out we are. But if it was right next to you and you, if you're like, this is my one day, the kids are gone, I'm gonna relax. And then all of a sudden somebody's doing work in their house next to you and you're like, I was trying to remember.

I remember we had a party that we were doing and like the day or two before somebody was doing crazy at this house. Do you remember that? I think it was either my birthday or something a day or two before it was so loud. And I was like, I'm.

I'm hoping that they don't do this. I don't think they did. I think we got lucky. But I thought about that. I was like, yeah, it was on a weekend, too. I was like, oh, it was the weekend before the party. I said, good thing we didn't do it this weekend. It was so loud. But like, yeah, you have no.

Or when I always bring up Columbus Day. Remember when it was like 7 a.m. and the neighbor right across from us here was like ripping up their driveway? That's what I mean, at Columbus Day. Yeah. I was like, who's doing it? I was like, everybody's. I know it doesn't affect us because we work for ourselves, but...

All of a sudden. On Columbus Day. You're like jackhammers and people. At 7 a.m. They were getting their driveway redone and it was just getting ripped up. Thank God we didn't have Melody in our room at that point. I think that's what I remember because Melody was in her own room at that point. No.

Yeah. It was then? Yeah. Because I remember being like, there's no way. I said it was like soon after we had moved her. I went outside and I was like looking and I was just like, what are you guys doing? Like. It was so obnoxiously loud. I remember checking her monitor to make sure that it wasn't coming through because she was on the other side. 7 a.m.

To rip up your truck. And then they had to do it twice, didn't they? Didn't they do the next thing? I think they had to repair something. That's what I mean. You have no control. That's the other hard part. It's just your neighbors decided to do it. I mean, we had a lot of work done in our house for a while.

Oh, I know. So I'm sure. That's why I said I was like, all of our neighbors probably hate us because we had so many trucks. We had a deck redone. I'm sure that, you know, that was a lot of noise. That's the thing is like, what are you going to do? People are going to. I don't get mad about it. It could be an annoyance, but like, you know, everybody does it at some point. I would like to know that somebody like...

Like your dad always says, like knowing somebody has your back and can tell you like, Hey, there's a creepy person that's like hanging out in your yard or like, Hey, that's why it's nice. Like I exchange numbers with the guys. So in case like they're out and I noticed their house is on fire or, you know, like something crazy or.

I see packages at his mailbox or something or whatever. Maybe see a bear walking around. Yeah. It's good to have. Yeah. I wish we had, we were more friendly with people, but. Just people in general. Just our neighbors, but the area we live, people just aren't close by. That's why we said if we were going to have that sort of... I feel like the only way to force ourselves to have that is to live in some sort of like...

Not gated, but like some sort of community where there's a shared, I don't know, HOA and there's like a shared meeting spot, like either a clubhouse or a park or. or beach. Yes, you make friends away from your house like, oh, I live here. You're like, okay, come on over or whatever. Well, I like that if only the people that live in that area can use those facilities and you know whoever you're dealing with is like somewhere nearby.

You can hunt them down if they do something. Hunt them down. No wonder we don't have neighbor friends. Yeah. I'd be hunting them down. And at the same time, I'd be just as happy living in the middle of nowhere. I know. With a not a neighbor for miles.

Navigating Weird HOA Rules

I don't know what I want in life. I feel like you don't know what you want in life if you like both of those polar opposites. Unless we just have to have two houses. Have one really close. I think where we're at now is the furthest I would want to be. I think it's different now that we have Melody.

Yeah. And when we, you know, raising them, you want neighbors, you want, you know, ideally it'd be great if they, you know, there's other kids around her age. Yeah, but you could just rely on somebody. To just like be a friend and like you have their back and they have yours. Thanks for being a friend. Like if somebody had an emergency. Like I remember when my mom accidentally like spilt hot water on her legs and had to go to the hospital.

As I'm telling the stories like this sounds terrible. She had to go to the hospital and like her neighbors like they she had to be brought by my uncle right away. And I had me and my brother were like. not old enough to take care of ourselves. So like our neighbors took us in and gave us dinner and made sure like everything was good until my mom or dad could get back from the hospital.

It's like, we don't really have that. We'd either have to like bring her or wait till your parents came. Yeah. Which is like 40 minutes. So it is nice to have somebody nearby to like, that you trust enough to like have your back like in an emergency like that. Yeah. But. Not always. Not always the case. Would you like to hear some weird neighbor rules? Rules? Like, almost like HOA fee. HOA. HOA. HOA. Homeowner's Association. Sure.

So these are just some weird things that people can and can't do in their neighborhoods, whether it's in an HOA or whatever it may be. I feel like someday if we ever are in HOA, you're going to hear me. If this podcast is still going, I would be like, I hate HOA. It's so dumb. I do hate all the rules.

Yes. But I want the community. Well, don't worry, because my next thing is I asked Chad, why are HOAs strict? And the answers make sense for the most part. All right. So these are like weird... neighborhood rules let's say uh no front yard decorations and so i have heard that so my aunt's house is like that in certain neighborhoods

or homeowners associations, there might be rules prohibiting or limiting the display of decorations or ornaments in the front yard. This can include restrictions on holiday decorations, garden homes, or other personalized elements that some may find.

harmless but are deemed undesirable by the community restricted clothing on laundry lines which what i guess people some people still do this uh in some areas rules or regulations dictate the type of clothing that can be hung on outdoor laundry lines This could involve prohibiting display of undergarments, swimwear, which is a little odd, whatever, or certain articles of clothing that are considered inappropriate or offensive to the community standards. What? Okay. Yeah.

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HOA Standards And Political Displays

To live in an HOA just because I get why they have a lot of the rules. And I'm going to, my next thing explains it, but I don't want that at this current. time and then i feel like if i did get into it i'd be like you'd be at the i'd be like auto i'd be like auto and yeah walking around because i do that nowadays because there's a house you there's a house around you're not supposed to well here's two things i hate now is when people

don't put their garbage in garbage cans and then animals get in and it just goes everywhere. Like, stop. Like, what are you doing? You're an idiot. And then- What are you doing? And then there's another house that's around the block and they haven't cut their grass and like- a month or so it's crazy high and i always don't want dexter going in because i don't want like ticks and whatnot and it's just like if i was

living right next to him, I'd be mad. You'd be the guy with the ruler measuring grass and be like, grass is supposed to be. No, I wouldn't be like that. But when it's absurd and it just looks like a vacant house or when you're garbage. It also keeps, yeah, I hate houses that have garbage.

or not even garbage but just like things out on the lawn and when people put out the recycling on the wrong week and they just leave it out like cardboard boxes and stuff it's like come on um no exterior modifications some communities or homeowner associations have stringent rules regarding exterior modifications to the homes limiting residents freedom to personalize or modify their properties. These rules may restrict changes to paint colors.

Yeah, that's like in my mom's neighborhood. Architectural styles or the addition of certain structures which can give an eerie uniformity to the neighborhood. Yeah, you know what's crazy? Like she told me her neighbor got his driveway repaved because he did it. slightly different color than what was approved. He had to like pay to get it redone. That's the same. It wasn't even a crazy color. It was just not the approved color. Yeah.

And same like if you paint your house, they have approved colors. Well, that's the thing is like if you allow one thing and then it's a slippery slope. Another one I have here is Quiet Hours Extremes. Extreme! Extreme! What are extreme quiet hours? While quiet hours are typically in place to ensure peaceful living conditions, some neighborhoods may have excessively strict rules regarding noise levels and quiet hours. These rules might include prohibiting even the slightest noise.

Do they have a decibel reader? You have to whisper. Or activities that would typically be considered acceptable during reasonable hours. Like chess. Like chess. That's probably... More so to do with like people doing work on their house or stuff like that. Using a leaf blower, et cetera. No outdoor lighting, which I...

Found weird. That's weird. In rare cases, neighborhoods or communities may have rules that restrict or prohibit the use of outdoor lighting at night. This can create an eerie atmosphere and potentially compromise safety and security. That one I didn't.

I don't know what Chad was talking about there. Yeah. What? Um... no front yard gardens in certain areas regulations might forbid residents from maintaining gardens or landscaping in their front yards this can result in a lack of greenery in more sterile or unwelcoming environments interesting yeah I really want a garden. Do you? I do, but I don't want to take care of it. Exactly. Can you take care of it? No. Can we hire Justin to come take care of it? Forbidden pet species.

Unusual rules might restrict residents from owning certain pet species that are considered unconventional or potentially disruptive. I know that because when we, especially for like renters. Yeah. There's usually dog guidelines. Well, I think they're talking about like alligators. Oh, well, that seems reasonable. Crazy things. Yeah.

No, but I know some, I'm sure there's some communities that don't allow certain dog breeds. For sure. I'm sure no one wants pit bulls and stuff, even though. It's always like pit bulls, Rottweilers, German Shepherds sometimes. Yeah, just the bigger, more aggressively.

stereotypically aggressive dogs. The ones that can take you down if they wanted to, but doesn't always necessarily mean they're gonna. Surveillance camera mandates in some neighborhoods or apartment complexes. There may be rules requiring residents to install surveillance cameras outside their homes.

or in common areas. While the intention may be to enhance security, excuse me, this level of constant monitoring can create a sense of unease and invasion of privacy. What? I'm a fan of it. I think you... I approve of security cameras.

in in and around people's homes yeah i think it's good to have because if someone's like house or car gets broken into or there's you know something going on yeah well we more if you have more people packages that get stolen yeah like the more people that have cameras the better. Yeah, I don't see a problem with somebody having cameras around. I can understand if like you have it.

pointed in someone's backyard and you can see in there yeah or through their window all right i found i found i found the loop the bad loophole of that but we even so when we moved into this house um There's like he had a camera like we do have actual cameras right now. I'm not giving away a hack. But for somebody who can't afford cameras, a cool hack that are.

The guy that owned the house before us learned we saw a camera. We're like, oh, you installed cameras. And he was like, no, that's a fake camera. Yeah. He installed. He just like bought a really cheap fake camera and put it right by the front door. So that people would think there was a camera. Yeah, it's not a bad idea. So if you can't afford it, but we have cameras everywhere. We are watching. If anything, there's like a couple spots. I even want more cameras. I can get different. Yeah.

Love. I love if we hear a noise just popping up the cameras and seeing like what, or if Dexter's barking or growling at something, just popping up the cameras and be like, what is it? Yep. No, it's, I. Not having to like look through the windows and try to see. I enjoy it. I like having it.

Or if I'm ever alone, yeah, I can just like look at that glance at them from time to time and know that I'm good. No, I'm a fan. What was nice is we put that up when our house was under construction. We like set up a camera right in the front of our house because there was like.

Construction workers going in and out. We wanted to make sure. Oh, yeah. We just had it in the window. Yeah. And I remember because we hadn't lived here yet. And I was like, I swear to God, if I look at these cameras and there's some like weird thing that I witnessed before we even move into this house.

But it was good because after weeks of construction, literally zero weird activity going on outside our house. And it made me feel even happier to move. I have a reoccurring dream that I still have access to the cameras at our old house. the nest app and um it's really weird that is weird i don't nothing like weird happens but it's like i just stole for some reason have like access to the cameras and i'm like it's weird yeah it's a random thought i had um

So then it's funny every time we have the cameras, though, and then we have like our guests or parents over there like, what are you watching me? It's like, yes, yes. We put them in specifically to watch. Yes, we are watching you. Don't do anything. It's not in the bedrooms. It's not in the. Maybe they are. I asked Chad, why are HOAs, or homeowners associations, so strict? And Chad told me this, that they are often strict...

with rules to help maintain property values, enforce community standards, and ensure a harmonious living environment. And here are a few examples of why HOAs have strict rules. Protecting property values. One of the primary purposes of an HOA is to protect and enhance

property values within the community. Strict rules and regulations are often put in place to maintain a certain aesthetic appeal, cleanliness, and orderliness in the neighborhood. By enforcing these rules, HOAs aim to create a consistent and desirable living environment which can positively impact property values for all homeowners.

Which I get. Yeah. It's annoying when you have that like one shitty house on the street that. Yeah. I remember when we were trying to sell our house, I was like, didn't we ask the neighbor if he could like keep the street clear?

as clear as possible i think we mentioned it and we're just like because i said i was like oh with our don't block somebody's gonna come and they're gonna be like we don't want to deal with this guy in his 50 cars blocking up the street yeah that was one thing our old neighbor had like

A bunch of cars. Like, too many cars for his house. Yeah. Maintaining community standards. HOA has established guidelines and regulations to uphold specific standards of behavior, appearance, and usage of common areas. These standards help ensure that residents comply.

with agreed upon norms and maintain a cohesive community identity. Rules regarding noise pet ownership and architectural modifications or landscaping can be implemented to create a sense of uniformity and preserve the community's character. That's the stuff I don't like. Because you don't care. No, no, no, no. I do care about my neighborhood's character. I do, but I don't like when everything looks the same. You know what I hate? What?

When people put political signs on their lawn. Oh God. I don't need to know who you're voting for. I don't care. I would rather not know. I would rather. Us just have a political. You have one sign. Fine. People have been putting up one sign for a long time. You know what I mean? Sure. One sign. Fine. Get it. Fine. Even that. When your whole identity is.

a candidate or a party it's like or even somebody who's like i i'm sure a lot of people know who i'm referencing but even somebody who's like not even running like at one point like At one point I was like, what are you doing? Or no, they had them as the, it was like their name. Trump. And then the year that they were not voted in. Yes. Like.

pretending that they are the president. Yes. I was like, what are you doing? They don't think they were pretending. Yeah, I know. Trump is Biden. He's pulling the string. Yes. I don't mind one. Wouldn't you like Biden? I don't mind one because everyone should have the right to like, I guess, advertise or support their political candidate. But when you have.

your whole yard taken up by signs and you have flags. Does it work though? It's very concerning. Do you ever drive by a sign and you're like, oh yeah, Trump 2020, hell yeah. All the time. It's constantly persuading me. Recent elections and political drama have definitely torn neighbors apart. It's coming up again. It's coming up again. It might be the same thing.

Bobby's Social Media Detox

It might be the same thing. I have been mentally freaking out about it, but I'm trying to not to pay attention to it. And I'm like, it's going to happen again. Whenever I think of the next election, all I think is Bo Burnham. They're really going to make me vote for Joe Biden. Oh, wait. I have an update for all our listeners. Oh. Remember, everybody, how, like, for the episodes ago, I was talking about Twitter and how I hate it.

And all stuff like that. We made a whole episode about it because you wanted to talk about it. I deleted the Twitter app off my phone and it's been a month. So I'm doing better. So I'm doing better. I'm improving. Don't. put it back. It's just going to get. No, I have no desire. I've had next year. It's good. I didn't delete my Twitter account. I'll still go on to my, my PC to like check my messages and quickly go through. But I will say for anyone else that's maybe.

It's dealing with the same issues I've been dealing with. If you feel like everything in the world sucks. Yes. Delete Twitter. Get off social media. Or even TikTok. TikTok, Facebook. That was also a bad thing for me. I use Instagram now and I will say it is significantly better.

Obviously, you still see things. You still see things, but it's not. It's different because I don't know. Yeah, it's just it's different. It's just a little sidetrack. But just saying I deleted Twitter off my phone, the app, and I've been doing a lot better. And if you are in the same similar mindset or whatever, I would recommend it. Delete the app. Bobby update. Elon ruined it. Actually, I hear he's made it. It's better.

It's more browsable, but it's like even easier to be a dumpster fire now, if that makes sense. Like the way that it's set up, I've heard. The 4U page. When they brought in the 4U page, that's what it is. They said it could have been better.

The Watcher: Creepy Neighbor Story

because that's what ruined it for me is that i would go on and i'd start and i'm like wait i'm on the for you page and i just start seeing stuff whatever anyway good old buzzfeed provided me some nice stories here this is an article from july of 2021 All users submitted stories. So at 3 a.m., we woke up. There was a pounding on the door. We heard him say, come out, you effing pee. I'm going to eff you up.

My wife immediately called the police. It turned out our neighbor was the one on the porch. He told the police that several nights prior, I had let my puppy out. into my own backyard. And because I was in my boxers, I was trying to expose myself to his family because they could look down onto our yard from where theirs sits. He then followed this up to the police with evidence.

which consisted of videos he had taken through our windows of my wife and I inside our home doing totally normal things like chores and watching TV. Oh my God. Creepy. Just creepy. That's the thing. That's like... The flip side to trying to be more friendly with your neighbors is that you have no idea the creepy weirdos that are living near you. Oh, I didn't even think we didn't even talk about the act. The big scary story. The Watcher.

I don't know. You don't know what The Watcher is? No, you wanna? Oh. There's a whole Netflix show about it. I did a deep dive on it for a creepy video. I mean, a synopsis is in Jersey. Somewhere like near actually not too far from where we live. There was a house that a family moved into. And soon after they moved to the house, they started receiving letters from somebody that said.

called themselves The Watcher. And this is a real story that was adapted into like a Netflix show or whatever. I still haven't seen it. But. Basically, they kept getting letters of somebody that said that they were watching every single thing that they do. They knew how many children they had. They knew what their ages were. They knew that the wife liked the paint. They knew a lot of stuff just by...

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Unsettling Neighbor Surveillance

is a mysterious figure associated with a series of unsettling letters sent to a family in Westfield, New Jersey in 2014. A couple purchased a historic home and soon received anonymous letters from someone referring to themselves as The Watcher.

The letters contained eerie and threatening messages claiming to be watching the house and its occupants. The family was so disturbed by the letters that they never moved into the house and instead sued the previous owners for not disclosing the harassment. The case gained media attention and various theories and speculations emerge regarding the identity of the watcher. However, no conclusive evidence or arrest had been made, and the true identity of the watcher remains unknown.

The story has captured public interest and continues to be a topic of discussion and speculation. I am the Watcher. So they never figured out who it was, but there's also theories that the Watcher was actually the people who owned the house. Yeah, that kind of. That they made it up. Yeah. So they said that like.

There was a theory that, like, they had bought this house that was a very, very expensive house, like millions of dollars. And then when they went to start moving into it, that they realized that they had, like... spent way too much on the house, like more than they could afford. And they were trying to figure out how to like get out of the.

purchase of this house. And that's why they went after the previous owners who also had received a letter like soon before they moved out of the house. So people were saying they like staged the whole thing, like sent a letter to this couple and then like. Tried to sue them saying that they didn't disclose that they had somebody that were like sending creepy letters or whatever. Yeah, that's The Watcher. Watch the Netflix series if you want every little detail about it. It was pretty creepy.

But yeah, like you never know. And even in the letters, the guy was like, or the girl, who knows, was saying like, I could be that man that like... who walks by, takes walks like down your neighborhood every day. Or I could be your neighbor watching you through the window. Like these are like doing every, making it the person as paranoid as possible of being like, you don't know who I am.

But I'm watching you. But yeah, if you have neighbors and you live in close proximity, they could be watching every little thing you do. And how would you ever know? Little thing she does. Could be filming you. Trying to look through your world. I'll be watching you. They know when to break into your house the easiest because they know when you're gone. They know your schedule. Which I feel like nowadays, because of security cameras and security systems, it's harder. Harder. It's more difficult.

Disgusting And Dangerous Neighbors

I had an upstairs neighbor that let their dog. crap on their balcony i have seen like heard of people doing pee and poop i started to notice a brown viscous substance leaking on my potted plants on my balcony it wasn't until it rained that i could smell that it was dog shit and piss I got him evicted because it kept happening. Gross. Oh, here we go. This is a good one.

Well, it's because... Because you hate people that leave garbage out? Yes. Some neighbors left their garbage out in plastic bags the night before garbage day instead of putting it in a bin. If you do that, you are a jerk. And you're attracting animals. Idiot. Come morning, there was garbage thrown all over. When the raccoons and skunks didn't spread around, the wind picked up. Or what the raccoons and skunk?

Didn't spread. The wind would pick up. People asked the neighbor to put his garbage in a bin. He told them to go F themselves. Thus began the garbage wars. Every morning of garbage day, some people will collect all the half-eaten and rotten trash from their lawns and toss it back.

into the neighbor's backyard. He would then collect it and dump it back on their lawns. People started finding half-eaten burritos and candy wrappers in their mailboxes. The street started to look like a slum. Police were called, health inspectors, city by law enforcement. And it said he lasted about eight months until, I guess, he left. Oh, my God. Yeah, I hate it.

I hate it. You're going to start stuffing garbage in there. No, if it was a neighbor and like there we do often have like there will be because our house is like the one street is like. on a hill downward so some people's garbage will like tumble down but if we had a direct neighbor and crap stuff was always getting on our yard i would 100 go over i'd even like like i'm gonna go buy you a garbage can here you go

Use the can. You are attracting bears. Idiot. I don't understand how people do that. I just it's so it's like one of those things that makes no sense to me that I just I have no empathy for it. Don't care. No, there's no excuses. Is it like when people don't wipe snow off their car? Very close. I would say this one is more annoying than the garbage. I met two of my neighbors by the entrance of the building. They started to follow me up the stairs, not saying a single word, just following me.

I rushed inside and locked the door when they started hammering at it. I yelled, what do you want? Leave me alone. They stopped hammering and the man said, we were just wondering if we could borrow your pee for a drug test tomorrow. I not. I not so politely declined and told him to F off and called the police. Lots of cursing these neighbor stories. Yeah, I did notice that. This is BuzzFeed. So much hostility. BuzzFeed's a little naughty.

I came outside one morning to find a scratch in my car. We shared a driveway and things happened. No big deal. I let it go until a week later. When I heard a crash in the driveway, neighbor slammed his car into mine and crushed the entire front end. I went outside to confront him and he was so like messed up on drugs or alcohol.

I'm putting my own words in, so I don't have to keep cursing, that he didn't realize he had hit my car. I think these are like Reddit submissions from people. I called insurance and went through the whole thing. The same day, they came home from work and parked.

They're already destroyed or messed up car in a different spot. So he would hit again at 11 p.m. that night. He crashed into the car again, despite them moving it and completely totaled the car. They call the cops at this point. Oh, my God. that's crazy twice in one day yeah see like that's another thing is you you could have like neighbors that are alcoholics or like addicted to drugs or like or have domestic domestic or have like weapons and are just it's

It's scary. Or you could be living next to a serial killer that keeps people in their basement and you have no idea. That was also a story in here about some dentist that killed people and buried them. It was weird. I had an older neighbor named Vernie.

And at the time when I moved into the house next to him, I also happened to have a gerbil named Vernie. About a year later, my gerbil passed. When I went to take his remains outside, I also noticed people don't put their rodents in the freezer like us and keep it there for years.

They don't care about them as much. I also noticed a lot of family members over at my neighbor's house. I waved to the daughter I recognized and she informed me that Vernie, my neighbor, had just passed. So the gerbil and the neighbor both named Vernie. Both passed on the same day. Oh, my God. They were just connected. Yeah. All right. This is a longer one. You want me to read it? Yeah. Thank you. I feel bad you always got to read everything. Thank you.

Home Invasions And Security

So when I was in high school, there were a few disturbing occurrences in my neighborhood. A woman down the street who lived alone woke up one night to go to the bathroom and heard her TV on in the living room. So she naturally wandered in there, assuming nothing out of the ordinary.

She found a guy sitting on her couch watching the TV, started screaming, obviously terrified, and the guy ran out of her house. I have heard things like this a couple times where like somebody gets really drunk and then just wanders. Yeah. You know where that would never happen? Our house, because I keep everything locked all the time. That's why. We don't have any instances like this.

Maybe a week later, further down the street, there was a family with a young daughter. She woke up in the middle of the night with her bedsheets pulled down and a guy tickling her feet. Again, started screaming and the guy fled. Another week or so later, three houses down where an elderly couple lived, the guy woke up in the middle of the night to find a man standing over his bed and staring at his wife sleeping. The old man started hollering at the guy and the guy fled again.

How's nobody finding this guy? So now everyone's on high alert, cops patrolling regularly, etc. They somehow find out who it was, and everyone in the neighborhood got a flyer with his picture. Behind us was a densely wooded area that stretches for a couple of miles in every direction. This guy had been literally living in those woods for upwards of a month in a tent doing God knows what when he wasn't breaking into houses. But the creepiest part of the story, the creepiest part of the story.

Uh, is this one night in the middle of all of those incidents, we had our sliding glass door open with just the screen door behind it shut. This was in the summer. We had a big bag. I would never do this. Never leave it open unattended. We had a big backyard and it was pitch black back there at night. Our dog suddenly jolted up and started growling viciously. Like I'm talking tail stiff as a board, hair up on his neck standing up.

Our dog was the best, nicest dog like ever. He never did that. So naturally we were like, what's going on? My father jumped up and put the floodlight over the deck on to see what was back there. But there was nothing.

The next morning, we were outside doing yard work and noticed the lock on our back gate was broken. Someone had clearly done it. It wasn't like it was wear and tear or something like that. It's very safe to assume that this guy had tried to get into our backyard slash house, but was deterred by my dog. growling slash barking 15 out of 10 good boy yeah I uh I don't know how I'll ever be in a house without a dog ever yeah I a dog a security system

Cameras. I need those things. Various weapons strategically placed all around the house. And weapons. Yeah, it's a. The hope is you never need it, but it's there if you do. Yeah, for sure. Like you made a face as if like, I meant like there's some people.

I wish, I wish I could go through life thinking that like the worst possible thing wasn't going to happen to me at every given moment. There's some people, like my mom for the longest would not lock her front door, like the doors in the house or the windows, the windows open. I just, I can't. can't I cannot sleep in a house where I know that somebody could eat oh because then the the what she would say is well if somebody wanted to get in the house and I

I think you've said this. Yes, but at the same time. However, but I told you why. No, I and I've seen plenty of videos where like. People will like knock on the door, like try to break in. You're making it easier. Yes. So people who are looking for an opportunity are going to take it. Yeah. If somebody is like.

targeting you and wants to get in your house sure yes but you're also making it a a lot easier for them yeah be a lot harder for the cops to ever find them because they didn't break into your home that's the big thing is you're not

There's not going to be evidence. Or they're going to think it's somebody that you know, whether that's true or not. But it's going to give them the idea that it's somebody, you know, and you let them in because your door was unlocked. But yeah, it's also the like with somebody. What's it called? Like. Uh...

My stepdad's car got stolen and it was because his keys were in the car and they most likely they weren't targeting him because how would they have known his keys were in the car? They were probably going house to house and checking the doors on the cars to see who was open and then seeing if somebody left. key fob in the car and there you go so it's the same with houses if somebody wants to break into a house they're either gonna

If somebody, they're either going to see if nobody's at the house, which somebody could be at the house. It just looks like they're not. That's why I like when there's like 50 cars parked in my driveway. I always feel super safe. I'm like, nobody's going to come here. There's too many people for them to take.

Even if it's just like one person, we have like five cars outside. I'm like, yes, people don't know. I'd like to be a creepy neighbor. You probably are. Maybe we are the creepy. Probably are the creepy neighbors. I mean, what have we done? People can't see us as much on this house. I feel like at the last house, they could definitely tell. Yeah. Yeah.

I think we're okay here. That's why we're shrouded by trees. Shrouded. Covered. Shrouded, covered with trees. Nobody can see our shenanigans. We have the cover of trees. Yeah. But yeah, that's it. Don't come to our house if you're our neighbor. Don't be our neighbor. Don't be our neighbor. And remember. I want to say it. Go ahead. I'm not doing it. And remember. Everything. Even your neighbor, Otto, and everyone else. And Bobby. Everyone is creepy.

We learned all about neighbors today. You didn't say everything. Everything and everyone, including your neighbors, are creepy.

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