Keeping up a good relationship with a neighbor can be difficult. Although most Americans (86%) say they like their neighbors, this doesn’t mean they always get along well. When you have to share a space with another person, boundaries about what’s acceptable and what’s not can get tricky.
Parking is a common topic of disagreement among neighbors. Some, like the one in this story, might have little consideration and allow contractors to park in front of their neighbor’s driveway. The neighbor in question posted this story online, asking whether he was wrong to call parking enforcement on the entitled contractor.
Bored Panda got in touch with the author of this story, u/emanon256. He kindly agreed to tell us why he decided to share this story with other Redditors and whether he and the neighbor made up in the end. Read our conversation below!
Basic etiquette dictates that you don’t block your neighbor’s driveway
Image credits: Paul Sullivan / Flickr (not the actual photo)
This man was fed up with his neighbor’s contractor blocking his way, so he called parking enforcement
Image credits: RossHelen / Envato (not the actual photo)
Image credits: emanon256
Image credits: Chokniti Khongchum / Pexels (not the actual photo)
The author tells Bored Panda that his relationship with the neighbor has been chilly since then
When we reached out to u/emanon256, he kindly agreed to tell us more about why he decided to post this story on the r/AITA subreddit. After the neighbor and the contractor both reacted the way they did, the author started doubting if they did the right thing by calling the authorities.
“I posted it because even though the contractor wouldn’t move, and the neighbor couldn’t get a hold of him, I still felt guilty involving the law and getting someone a ticket,” u/emanon256 tells us.
The Redditor says that the incident caused a little bit of a rift between the neighbors. “The neighbor hasn’t talked to me since,” the netizen wrote in a message via Reddit. “And when I see him, I wave and say ‘Hi,’ and he ignores me.”
The two were never overly friendly with each other, but the parking ticket incident made them grow apart even further. “We were never close, but we said ‘Hi’ to each other,” u/emanon256 says. “Talked about yard work on the property line, etc. [Now], it’s radio silence.”
Luckily, the support he got from people online helped him validate his decision. The Redditor says he felt a bit better after reading the comments under his post. “I was surprised with the responses suggesting I do worse things. I feel like that would have made the outcome much worse.” However, he is thankful for people suggesting he sweep his driveway for nails. “I did find one. I don’t think it was intentional.”
In the end, the Redditor believes it’s all about good communication and being friendly with your neighbors. “I always prefer talking to the neighbor — usually, that is all it takes. This time, the neighbor tried and the contractor was the issue. So, I am [still] wondering why the neighbor was so upset.”
Image credits: Lisa Fotios / Pexels (not the actual photo)
To have a good relationship with neighbors, people need to think about the importance of community
We often hear that keeping a good relationship with neighbors is crucial if we want a stress-free home life. That can be hard sometimes, especially when the neighbors are the ones either creating or instigating drama. In fact, a 2016 study revealed that 42% of Americans have had conflicts with their neighbors.
In a previous interview with Bored Panda, etiquette expert Lisa Mirza Grotts said that politeness is the antidote to rude behavior, even when dealing with neighbors. “To be a good neighbor requires politeness, thoughtfulness, sincerity, and oftentimes discretion. But extreme behavior is going a bridge too far.”
“Living in communal spaces is the definition of shared space, meaning yours, mine, and ours,” Grotts explained. “We live in a ‘me’ world; we need to change our mindset to ‘we.'” Therefore, politeness and good manners here work as a two-way street. “If you treat your neighbor – the person you see day in and day out – with disrespect, you might not get much cooperation from them.”
You never know what might happen: one day, you might need help from the neighbor you started ignoring because they called parking enforcement. “All of our choices have power, which means being tactful is the right choice when it comes to neighbors,” Grotts emphasized. “Especially those living in cities (close quarters).”
The man explained why the contractor couldn’t just park in the neighbor’s driveway instead
Many people agreed that the author was right in this situation
