Making Lemonade out of Rude and Abusive Neighbors, Pt 1

I am freewriting this because I just have to share it to the world. Might as well get something out of my misery eh? I shall make lemonade out of lemons today. I've been having these lemons for more than a year now, it's time to finally make something out of it.

You see we have "new" neighbors in our apartment. They moved here back in 2018 I think. I know because suddenly out of the blue there was some kind of duck or chickens across our kitchen window. It used to be an open space with just some wild plants and such. One day it just suddenly had some rooster/chicken coop. Suddenly the world was not that quiet anymore. Nobody even said a word to me.

At that time I had just ended my dual job. Oh boy that was really hard. Haha. Working as a real estate agent during the day while working as a call center agent at night is not easy. 😂 I just thought I'd try it because I could.

The worst part was not being able to sleep enough, the best part was my considerate manager. 😂 I remember I became a regular sleeping quarters resident, something that I had never been before. Also was happy the BPO company I worked at had a shower area. Ah thank God for that. I was practically almost living there during weekdays. Haha.

So anyway as I was saying, in 2018 I needed to rest. I got really tired working two jobs. At least I had accomplished such a difficult thing. 😂 I decided the new year would be a time for me to stay home and not work for a while. Meaning I didn't apply for a new job once my contract in both companies were done.

And then I started writing online for another pay-to-write site. At least I was earning something even if I didn't really have any work. I had access to the internet thanks to my sibling.

As early as that time I was already a "work at home" individual. Meaning I just wrote online and did nothing else except rest my tired body. I remember the distinct sound of this noisy and distracting animal. It looked like a duck and because it was noisy I took a video of it.

The neighbors

In 2019 some of the neighbors began using the open area as workspace. Sometimes they would put tools and random things I consider junk under my window. I mean come on! One time upon seeing all the chaos and scattered plywood and tools I couldn't help but loudly exclaim, "What? Is this a dump site now?"

And from then on, they finally cleaned up their stuff. However the "new" neighbors, married couple I will call Guy and Gal, turned out to be the new property administrator. How that happened I am not sure, I was probably already back to working in late 2018 that I was unaware of it.

During that time until 2019 the guy would be occasionally drinking with some buddies outside our bedroom windows. It's an open area between two units and was meant to be a place to hang and dry clothes. During this time they slowly began to make it a public area to celebrate birthdays or anniversaries. It didn't happen often so I was fine with it but I could hear everything they were talking about. One time they even talked about Biringan City too! Pffft. The things people talk about when drunk.

Fast forward to 2020 and the pandemic happened. Guess what, instead of people staying inside their units, these two neighbors began "expanding" their property. More roosters were added behind our unit and instead of the previous junk dump under my window, the senior neighbors across our unit put a mini potted garden. Okay, since it made the area "beautiful" I didn't say a word and I'm not against it. Better to have plants than a dump site.

Take note, Guy and Gal lived on one of the higher floor units but they are using the ground floor as if they own it too. My problem is really these newbies and only slightly the senior couple living across us too.

I didn't even know Guy and Gal have become "in charge" of our apartment. Didn't attend any "election" meeting so how should I know? I've only ever attended one and that was when our uncle was still in their unit and that's it.

(No I am not someone who would go out and about getting to know my neighbors. 😂 I don't talk to strangers that much but if they have talked to us before of course we would nod and such when we see them.)

My sibling was the one who found out when one time suddenly Gal knocked on our door and asked for payment of monthly dues. Huh? We've never even heard of such a thing in all the years we've lived here. We've been here for more than a decade and no monthly dues at all.

Apparently there is an overdue amount for several years. Seriously? He paid some and I paid some as well. My sibling even asked if there were other amounts needed to be paid. The couple would never even bother to give a list to him even if he asked several times.

So anyway the pandemic happened and Guy and Gal + seniors and outsiders would gather round the table and chairs they moved to the open space. Wtf. They would cook, eat, talk and smoke around the table like it wasn't a pandemic. Wth? They even watched TV in that area. Correction, they watched online sabong (cockfighting) at night while smoking and drinking. Plus add the roosters and wow it has become such a disruptive place to live in.

At first we didn't care about Guy and Gal until they became inconsiderate, rude and abusive people. Who in their right mind would smoke and be loud and put noisy roosters in front of someone else's home when it's not even theirs? Of course we were the only ones who mainly get bothered by it because those animals were right in front of our windows!

And then they kept smoking everytime they were in the open space. All the second hand smoke would go inside my room. I asked them nicely the first few times to not smoke there but I was met with disregard. It took months of constantly telling them not to smoke before they actually stopped doing so. I even had to put a no smoking sign several times just so they will be reminded everytime they go to the open space.

The incidents

One time Guy and I even had an argument in front of his "buddies" where he did not even have the guts to talk to me. I caught him smoking and he hid the cigarette! Just had his back turned to me the whole time and his lackeys were the one talking to me. One of them said I should close my window. What, I don't have a right to fresh air? I only had one window slightly open and they pollute the only air coming in? Why would I close my window? Why can't they move to another area instead?

Another neighbor even apologized for Guy's behavior probably because he was just looking at the TV and not responding at all. WTF. It was not only him who was smoking but he is supposedly the "big boss" around here and yet he can't even do something so simple? Well what can we expect from irresponsible cigarette addicts huh?

Remember this was last year, a time when everyone was new to being supposedly locked indoors. So of course in consideration I only asked them to stop smoking in that area and didn't even tell them to transfer back to the previous public loitering area where more people would equally be bothered by their noise.

It's been more than a year and they constantly made the open space as their meeting place like it's the public living/dining room. Hah! Before my outburst, as early as 7 or 8 am they would be there talking and eating as if they didn't know noise travels easily inside all the units in this building. Seriously I think they feel privileged just because they are in a position of "power".

They even have a kagawad (councilor) in their pocket! One time they held a drinking session in the open space in the middle of the night. Hey we were in quarantine and they were having a drinking session with a kagawad and his people? WTF?

There was also a time when they held sabongs during Sundays so of course they were noisy! Geddemmet. One time I heard someone said a policeman was asking around if there was some sabong going on here. Hah, that scared them. Finally they have stopped doing it here.

Pwe marunong naman pala matakot sa pulis.

Anyway they also did stop smoking in the area but I would still smell it from time to time. And yet even up to this year his lackeys and "guests" would loiter in that open space and smoke.

You know, here in the Philippines, guests are brought inside the house. INSIDE THE HOUSE. Everyone here in this apartment building does so except them and the seniors. Amazing huh?

One time they even set up the swab test for the whole apartment in the open space. Wow, I asked the organizers why did they put it there instead of in front and beside the stairs where everything was usually done? I said, "so that's why it's noisy," bla bla bla. And then I saw Guy so I asked him why he had the swabbing area set up in front of our windows. And of course he made up another implausible excuse to make it seem like it's plausible. I didn't bother arguing.

This all happened in front of other neighbors waiting for the swab test and the swab test personnel. Why? Because as mentioned, if you're nice to them, they will disregard you. And this was actually so I had witnesses in terms of my outburst and my "testimonial", haha.

So I kept talking loudly telling Guy they are always noisy and have made the place a loitering area since the pandemic started, bla bla bla. What, I always have witnesses because I do not want these people to lie about the situation they've been doing since last year. They are manipulative and abusive people. I know how to deal with such types having been exposed to these people my entire life.

This is me being a nice neighbor even if they are the ones completely overstepping the line which escalated last year. Just this month I again publicly confronted Guy and company because some outsiders were again smoking in the open area. Guy and "friends" already knows people shouldn't be smoking there and yet not even one person told those outsiders/lackeys of his to smoke elsewhere.

In my annoyance I told them to stop using it as a loitering space. He angrily replied back saying it is a public area. Duh, it's a public area for drying clothes and not for people to make it their outdoor living room (like a pseudo house extension). For years no one had been noisily using it to disturb others except for them. They were doing the opposite, instead of not having meetings and such during the pandemic that's when they started mass gathering! (How smart of them.)

Of course I'm sure the neighbors heard everything.

But wait there's more! This is getting too long so I will share what happened next in Part 2.

XOXO,

@LucyStephanie

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All images from Pixabay.

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