So, we’re in a condo now, not the house. We share walls on two sides. We hear virtually nothing from one side, just a single woman. She’s nice, quiet…to give an example of her thoughtfulness as a neighbor, she uses some silencer device when she practices the violin.
The other wall we share with 5 humans and 3 dogs. It is a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath unit. Crazy crowded! I can’t believe they all fit. No wonder there’s so much angsty yelling and loudness that comes from their place. It could also be that they are all super tired from getting up at 4 or 4:30 am…even on the weekends. It could also be just that their alarm clock is really annoying…beep, beep, BEEP, beep, beep, BEEP, beep, beep, BEEP…..it goes on for at least 65 BEEPS before it shuts off….and then it only gives them a 6 minute rest before it goes off again….that would make me cranky, too.
Only one of them works, from what I can tell. She has about 3 or 58 jobs…the rest merely tend to the homestead. Being the worker bee for their hive must be tiring…probably a lot of pressure, too. Being a drone back at the hive, though, that sounds like less fun to me. I’d savor getting to leave and be outside, among other people.
With 5 humans in an 1100 square foot place, it makes sense that they’d spread out into the common areas of the condo building. They’ve practically taken over the walkway with their plants, a little kid scooter (they don’t have a little kid), and empty flower pots and cups and…. I suppose it gives at least one or two of them an excuse to be outside….it gives them a reason to not be cooped up in their dark cavern of a home, they’ve got to water and sweep and prune and…just not be inside.
Their living situation reminds me of that tale of a man saying his house is too crowded. His rabbi says to bring in the cow, the pig, the donkey, the chickens…that it will solve their problem. The man does. He goes bonkers with how crowded that is. He goes back to the rabbi. One by one, the rabbi tells the man to let an animal go outside. After awhile, the man realizes that his original living situation isn’t that bad, once the animals are all living outside again.
It surely is different to share walls with others. It’s been several years since I’ve had to and, while I surely don’t mind sharing a wall with my neighbor to the one side, it’s a challenge to share a wall with the other neighbors. Their 3 dogs bark a lot, one of the women yells a lot, there’s the morning alarm clock, the door slamming, the laundry, the flushing, the WHISTLING, the smells that emit from their open door and window….I guess it could be worse, I could be forced to live on the other side of the wall that separates us. No thanks. I’ll keep the muffled noises and intermittent odors over that any day.
How sad. I like to believe in the benefits of population-dense living — shorter walks, reduced need for cars, more opportunities to meet people — but it’s hard when (a) the walls are so thin you can hear your neighbor’s alarm clock and (b) the neighbors themselves seem to lack a minimum of courtesy.
There’s a part of me that wants to say you have an opportunity for relationship-building with these people, and that, through some magical means, you can communicate to them that their noise doesn’t keep to their quarters, and it will have good effect. Realistically, though… I’m less sure.
Good luck.