… let’s ban stinky food while we’re at it. Please?
This thread resonates (no pun intended) with me because I have some truly horrible neighbors right now.
The adults are loud and noisy – constantly stomping, shouting, and playing loud music, and then their children are constantly screaming and running around indoors – even doing things like riding tricycles indoors (what the fuck?). It’s a constant struggle, and I’m above them. My poor neighbor two floors down is being slowly driven to the brink by these people (not to mention they have had their place flooded multiple times by them).
My two floors down neighbor and I tried talking to them multiple times explaining that we live in an old building with little sound insulation and to please have some fucking consideration, but they have in no uncertain terms told us to go fuck ourselves. Since they aren’t technically violating any rules or ordinances there’s basically zero recourse.
When I was first married and lived in a cheesy apartment we referred to the upstairs neighbors as “the Boomers” because they seemed to be normal, regular people except that for some strange reason they always spoke in the loudest, most carrying tones imaginable. It was like they were addressing a crowd of thousands with no mic. You could literally hear them, on the third floor, from the parking lot.
Living just below them we’d hear stuff like “PASS THE SALT, SON.” “OKAY, DAD!” and we knew they were sitting a few feet from each other, carrying on conversation at a level like they were wearing earplugs and running chainsaws. Family of five, all amazingly loud, all the time. And they weren’t offensive in any other way, they were friendly and helpful and never made any other trouble.
One night Mr. Boomer was home with one of his buddies and the rest of the family was out. The conversation went something like this:
Guest: (inaudible)
Mr. Boomer: YEAH, ME TOO. I KNOW WHAT YOU MEAN.
Guest: (inaudible)
Mr. Boomer: YEAH, WELL NOBODY KNOWS I SMOKE POT SOMETIMES.
Me, from below: "I KNOW NOW!"
Somebody else, from another apartment: "EVERYBODY KNOWS NOW!"
A third voice, fainter and farther away: “WE KNOW! WE ALL KNOW!”
Most leases (or local ordinances) in the U.S. entitle you to to “quiet enjoyment” of your space. This doesn’t mean absolute silence — sometimes construction has to be done or furniture has to be moved — but necessary noisy activities are restricted to certain hours, and reasonable activities like simply walking around on your ceiling might annoy you if you’re hypersensitive, but that would be your problem.
[quote=“ficuswhisperer, post:42, topic:99191”]
… let’s ban stinky food while we’re at it. Please?
[/quote]Funny you should mention that:
Stinky cooking odours constitute a crime, Italy’s supreme court rules
Cooking may be a national passion, but Italians who allow the pungent aroma of a simmering pot of pasta sauce or a vat of deep fried fish to waft into a neighbour’s home are committing a crime, the country’s highest court has ruled.
In the best traditions of legalese the world over, the Court of Cassation in Rome even came up with a term for the offence – “olfactory molestation”.
The ruling emerged from a long-running battle between neighbours in an apartment block in the town of Monfalcone on the Adriatic coast, close to the border with Slovenia.
I remember a children’s book that was a collection of cases brought before a legendary Solomonic Japanese judge.
A poor student lived upstairs from a fish restaurant; the smell of the fish that wafted in the window enhanced the flavor of the plain rice that was all he could afford to eat. One day he went to thank the chef, but the chef became outraged and brought suit against the student for “stealing” the smell of his fish. The judge heard the case and told the student to take out whatever coins he had in his purse. The student despaired, but the judge told him to simply shake the coins around in his hands.
“There,” said the judge to the chef, “You have been repaid for the smell of your fish with the sound of his money.”
I moved into a very quiet neighborhood, and the next door neighbors immediately bought a Doberman puppy that grew into a horse-sized dog. They though nothing of letting it out at 10:00 pm or 7:00 am for half an hour, to pee and bark its head off. When I complained, Mrs. Neighbor explained that “FAMILIES have dogs” (they were xtian and had 4 kids, we are atheists and have 0 kids). So I sent them a copy of the local noise ordinance. They actually complained to me that the fine was $500, as if that were my problem. But they were a little more careful after that.
Mr. and Mrs. Holierthanthou have since moved away, thank god.
Though near the beginning of the article an Italian couple cooking “a dish that is as beloved to Italians as fish and chips are to the British” is cited as being the problem, by the end we are told “One reason for the increase in complaints was Italy’s growing immigrant population, with Italians objecting to the aroma of ‘exotic’ foods such as curries and stir fries heavy on garlic,” which is the response I suspected I’d see when I first saw the title of the article.
I’m sure that stale seafood odors lingering around your neighborhood can get pretty old too though.
Have you ever met a kid? I had neighbor whose kid came by every sunday. It was like a herd of elephants. Did I complain? No, I did not. Why? because its a kid! what was I going to do, go up there and ask them to order their kid to stop having fun for the rest of their childhood? They go to sleep at 7PM. who the hell is it hurting? Cranky old bachelors that can’t tolerate other people.
Have you ever had a neighbor who made inappropriate noise regularly, especially at an inappropriate hour? You’re making an assumption here that you cannot support, with the details at hand. Even during the day, it’s nowhere near impossible for the noisemakers to go too far. You’d prefer slapping them with a $750 noise violation ticket, eh (yes, really, in some jurisdictions in the US)…? And why, exactly, is it OK for them to ignore the complaints of the neighbor they’re tormenting?
No, no one is obliged to humor assholes, whether or not they have kids. And no, having children certainly doesn’t relieve you of the responsibility for the actions of your children, as a parent. Just to be clear: I blame the parents, NOT the children. Yes, they could have tried to alleviate the problem to some degree — no one is perfect, of course but according to this article, that didn’t happen at all.
I would never buy a condo because I can’t stand my finances being tied to the whims of an unaccountable volunteer HOA board made up of people who literally have nothing better to do.
But renting a condo is the bomb. The CC&Rs that all residents have to agree to are much more restrictive and toothy than any local noise ordinances. The only problem is not being allowed to engage in any hobby that makes noise, but I’m happy for the motivation to get out into makerspaces.
I sorta agree as a general principle. I have had neighbors. One used to wake up at 6am and crank their music to max volume for the entire morning. They seemed depressed and this was some sort of effort to get themselves out of bed. I turned my speakers over and blasted RATM. My roomate left them passive aggressive notes. They also occasionally had really loud sex with their person they had sex with.
In this case I disagree because kids under the age of 7 or so are 100% assholes, which is the fault of the parents only so much as they had them, but If you are a human that wants the human race to continue, you don’t have to raise children, but you are obligated to humor them a little.
