A now-viral Reddit post details a scenario that took place between a homeowner’s association member and her new neighbor, a doctor.
Now, you’d think that since both people carry titles normally respected by the community, that this would be a mature interaction.
Unfortunately, it was more like something you’d see erupt between middle schoolers.
Actually, teens could’ve handled it better.
No one said that getting along with your neighbors is always going to be easy, but this story has people criticizing this “Mean Girls” mom’s tactics.
The Reddit post was made by a 30-something dermatologist who purchased a new home.
One of his express intents of the purchase was so that his two dogs could have a yard to play in instead of being cooped up in an apartment.
“I searched for quite a while before I found a house that I liked (had a big lawn) and ended up buying it. It’s in a very tiny neighborhood in my city and quite a calm one which is always great,” the doctor explained.
Not as calm as it looks.
“I’ve moved to this house about a week ago and haven’t had any real troubles at all. Everyone seemed friendly enough.”
Including one of his neighbors, who is a member of the local neighborhood association, that knocked on his door.
She wasn’t bearing a ‘welcome’ basket.
“I’m not and I have no plans of ever joining them [the neighborhood association], but they don’t harm me, so it’s fine,” the doctor, who goes by FaultFabulous on Reddit said. “I went to answer the door and see what did she need. She was pretty nice at first, welcoming me to the neighborhood and all that.”
And that’s when things went south.
His neighbor decided that it was within her right to ask him to keep his dogs inside when he isn’t home. Even though his yard is fenced in.
But the best part is why.
“The kids like to play on the houses’ lawns and they are afraid of your dogs. So, you need to put them inside when you’re not at home,” she told him.
What threw him off from compromising with her, or at least trying to have a civilized conversation, is likely that she told him what he “had” to do instead of asking.
“For a moment I didn’t quite believe what I heard and asked her to repeat, and she indulged me like this was a common occurrence. I just told her flat out, ‘No, the lawn is for the dogs. Your kids have no business going to my property, nor do you have any ground to make that demand,'” the doctor explained in his post.
Unbelievably, she was shocked.
She didn’t expect, and was clearly none-too-pleased, that this man had the audacity to stand up for himself and assert his rights as a property owner and taxpayer.
She then threatened him with influence.
She went on to threaten to call the association and a bunch of other people she seemed to think were important.
“I just told her flat out that she could call the pope for all I cared. It was my property and my say in it stays,” he said.
The woman left in a tizzy.
She went full “Mean Girls” mode.
She apparently went on to spread rumors about him to the other neighbors.
“People who would smile at me or say ‘good morning’ no longer even look at my face,” he explained.
This woman actually spread rumors like a child so no one would talk to the new neighbor.
And her neighbors actually treated this poor man a certain way based on what someone else told them and without making up their own minds.
It’s hard to believe and sad to realize that this event unfolded between two presumably respected adults.
While his new neighbors are apparently upholding the HOA member’s “pack mentality”, the dermatologist found strength in numbers on Reddit.
Most people who read the post resoundingly confirmed that he was not in the wrong for standing his ground and claiming rights to how his property was used.
Get the full details of this gritty experience in the original post below!
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AITA for not letting my neighbors kids play on my lawn? from AmItheAsshole
