If not crazy, annoying and unreasonable. I need advice.
We bought this house a couple years ago. A day or so after closing, before we’d moved in, there was a note on the door that said something like “Welcome neighbor. Please don’t leave the light on in the kitchen at night. It bothers my mother.”
This was puzzling since we hadn’t moved in, but perhaps either us or our contractor had left the light on before leaving.
A week or so later, we meet the neighbor. It’s a woman and her very elderly mother. They also have tenants who seem to change frequently.
Now, I don’t leave the lights on all night because it’s a waste of electricity. But we need to turn on lights at night for a variety of reasons, and since I go to bed late, sometimes that is after midnight. Other times my husband leaves before sunrise to catch a flight. These are not unreasonably strong lights. An overhead, about four feet from the window.
Fast forward to last week. At midnight, I went into the kitchen and turned on the light. A minute later I hear a woman screaming. My husband and I go outside to figure out what is going on. The screaming stopped. I hear a woman’s voice saying, “I hate this city, I hate this city.”
Five minutes later, neighbor woman comes over and tells us to please stop leaving our light on because it bothers her mother. I tell her to get curtains, that I’m not going to not turn on lights. My husband, bless his soul, patiently listens to her complain for about 5 minutes.
Last night, 1 a.m., just before going to bed, I go to the kitchen and turn on lights to do something. As I leave, I pause at the light switch and for a moment think, “I could leave this on and bug my neighbor.” But no, I chide myself, don’t be mean, and I turn off the light.
Sure enough, this morning there was a note on the door. “Must you leave the light on all night long? They shine directly into my face.”
My lights were most definitely not on all night!
Some other info. These neighbors are not liked by others on the block. The woman across the street has a block party at her house once a year, and these 2 are the only people not invited. Once we watched in horror and amusement when another couple were having a fight and crazy neighbor was crouched in the bushes outside their window listening.
Plus, her tenants are a pain. They park right in front of our garbage cans after we put them out, so that the trash can’t be picked up. One time they parked blocking our driveway. We haven’t complained to crazy neighbor, although we have left notes on car windshields.
I don’t want to get into a feud with my neighbors. But I do think they are being unreasonable. I would think some quality black-out curtains and eye shades would solve this.
I can think of several ways to respond, but I’d like to know what you all would suggest.