Not So Friendly Friendly Neighborhood

Okay, so I’ve lived in my apartment for nearly 6 months to the day; I’ve rarely changed my routine, and living in a ground-floor, garden-style space, I have few neighbors near me. Nor have I even officially met any of them.

Occassionally my next door neighbor plays music (presumably at a party) loud enough for me to hear as if I were playing it myself. And I do hear their doors slam in the stairwell, as the place echoes easily.

Not once have I been asked to quiet it down; nor have I heard walls being knocked on to tell me to knock it off.

So, to my surprise, I get a notice that seems to be going to the entire building that we all have loud alarms that need to stop going off. We are all accused of something and warned because one of our neighbors can’t tell where the sound is coming from.

But if we never are told of our transgressions before hand, how can we know to stop before a complaint has to be filed? And what’s worse, what if this was a one-time offense by one person on the top floor? Why assume warn everyone, and why assume it is an ongoing thing?

I never understood how people in the DC area can live in an apartment next to you and rather than going to you directly to complain, they trek down to the manager’s office to complain to people who have no idea if the person is lying or if the complaint is really legit.

If you have a problem with noise, you should go to the source and pound on the door until they cease. I live in a reasonably friendly neighborhood; we shouldn’t be afraid of people who sleep less than twenty feet away, to the point that we deal with noise in such an impersonal, indirect manner.