Bored Panda works better on our iPhone app
Continue in app Continue in browser

BoredPanda Add post form topAdd Post Search
Tooltip close

The Bored Panda iOS app is live! Fight boredom with iPhones and iPads here.

“I’ll Show You Fair”: Neighbor Maliciously Complies With Mom Who Demanded Bake Sale Profits, Now She’s The One Who Has To Pay
1.8K

“I’ll Show You Fair”: Neighbor Maliciously Complies With Mom Who Demanded Bake Sale Profits, Now She’s The One Who Has To Pay

ADVERTISEMENT

When it comes to neighbors, it’s always a bit of a gamble. Some of us are fortunate enough with lovely people living close by who strike up friendly conversations and invite us over for cookouts. Others prefer to keep their lifestyle to themselves and hope other residents will do the same. But if there’s one widely accepted truth we’re certain of, we don’t really get to pick our neighbors. And unfortunately, only a few of us hit the jackpot.

You see, some spaces are occupied by entitled people who come knocking on your door determined to get all up in your business over the slightest inconveniences. Redditor snortgiggles knows this, as she explained in her recent post on the ‘Malicious Compliance’ subreddit.

A few weeks ago, the kids in her neighborhood decided to have a bake sale. But what was supposed to be a fun and joyful activity quickly turned sour after her neighbor’s son got bored and cut out early. “When you’re done, come by and deliver half the money,” he told her kid. When that didn’t work, he marched over to his house and complained that it simply “wasn’t fair.”

What followed was an angry mom waving a receipt at the user’s face, demanding to be compensated for her share of the purchases. Instead of arguing with the woman, the author decided to comply. Maliciously. Read on for how the whole ordeal unfolded and let us know what you think about it in the comments!

Recently, a mom shared the story of how a kids’ bake sale stirred up drama after one angry neighbor demanded half the money despite her son cutting out early

Image credits: marybettiniblank (not the actual photo)

Instead of arguing with the woman, the user decided to maliciously comply

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

Image credits: Kari Shea (not the actual photo)

ADVERTISEMENT

Image credits: snortgiggles

Depending on the circumstances, our neighbors can be both a blessing and a curse. People living in close proximity to us have great power over our wellbeing by swiftly making our lives either more delightful or difficult. We all strive to live in harmony and avoid hostilities and long-lasting arguments at all costs, but that’s rarely the case. After all, some people enjoy sparking drama where there is none and completely disregard the feelings and choices of those living around them. Unlike within a school or a workplace, it’s seemingly impossible to avoid nightmarish neighbors in your area, especially in a densely populated one.

Bored Panda previously had a chat about the causes of negative neighbor relationships with Jaap Nieuwenhuis, assistant professor of sociology at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. According to him, unhealthy disputes in neighborhoods often occur where there’s a clash between people’s life choices.

“Many people are attached to their own specific lifestyle … [and] when someone else infringes on your ability to enjoy your own lifestyle, conflict can emerge,” he told us. “Enjoying a late-night outdoors party with loud music may be fun for one, but might not be for the next person, who is anyway forced to listen to it.”

ADVERTISEMENT

“Other common conflicts are also about how to deal with (public) space in a way that is acceptable for everyone. This is seen, for instance, in complaints about children, pets, inconveniently parked cars, verbal violence, and conflict about garden borders,” Nieuwenhuis added.

However, the professor explained that having more meeting spaces and shared goals within the community can help positive social relationships prosper. When people find more opportunities to interact with one another, it can build stronger social cohesion in the neighborhood. So you would think that activities like a kids’ bake sale and the preparation that comes with it, like snortgiggles described in her story, would only bring people closer. But as it turned out, it led to an awkward conversation that brought tension between the two households.

Showing up on someone’s doorstep and demanding compensation when your son barely took part in the activity smells of entitlement issues, don’t you think? Well, at least many of the Redditors agreed when they applauded the user for standing her ground, setting a good example for her kid, and dealing with the rude neighbor in the best possible way.

Later on, the user clarified a few details and answered Redditors’ questions in the comments

ADVERTISEMENT

Licensed clinical psychologist Dr. Jesse Matthews told us in an earlier interview that we will all encounter people who want to take advantage of us, though we can try to notice these patterns and act accordingly. So when someone expects to reap the rewards after fronting nothing while you do all the work, it isn’t someone you want to keep associating with. “In these instances, you can bring it to their attention if you think it’s important to let them know you see it or if you want to give them the opportunity to change. Or, if you would rather not confront them, you might simply back away from the relationship, responding less frequently to their calls or texts, not reaching out to them, or being ‘busy’ when they ask you to get together.” Lastly, he added that one more way to deal with these situations is to set healthy yet firm boundaries.

ADVERTISEMENT

When it comes to conflicts between neighbors, Dr. Matthews mentioned they typically emerge because one household violates our ability to enjoy our lifestyle, like making noise late at night when we are trying to sleep. “Beyond that, however, there are neighbors who are jealous of others, who don’t like people for various reasons, or some other things they are doing might bother them,” he noted. “It could be a matter of them not minding their own business, which we see a lot of these days with so many ‘Karen’ videos online.”

To find a way out of similar disputes, it’s important to be respectful so everyone can live peacefully. But at the same time, “you also need to distinguish between what are valid complaints and what is just someone not minding their own business.”

“If a conflict arises, you should always try to be tactful and respectful, trying your best to keep any problems to a minimum. But you may also need to be assertive and set or hold boundaries with neighbors. If you believe they are asking too much or concerning themselves with something they shouldn’t, don’t be afraid to let them know. And the more you can resolve conflicts on your own the better,” Dr. Matthews concluded.

People online applauded the way this mom handled the situation, some even chimed in with their own childhood experiences

Share on Facebook
You May Like
Popular on Bored Panda
Hey pandas, what do you think?
Add photo comments
POST
noneanon avatar
Random Anon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You know the people complaining about how two pieces of bread and some vegetables costs way less than the sandwich they're paying? I've often tell them about the hidden costs of doing business like rent, utilities, wages et cetera over the years and guess what? They will remain adamantly indignant that all these businesses are ripping them off.

an-gu avatar
Anna Banana
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is such a dissonance, considering that they still don't think it's worth their own time to make themselves a sandwich instead of buying it.

Load More Replies...
rickbose avatar
juliaartigue avatar
juice
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i've seen other pandas speculate that advertisers don't like words such as "kill", "die", etc. or curse words, so BP censors them to keep ad money

Load More Replies...
skidog911 avatar
Kusotare
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good for your kids for standing up for fairness when the neighbor kid bounced early in the first place. That suggests they had a pretty good idea what was fair going into this disastrous "partnership". I'd bet they learned another valuable lesson in the aftermath, too.

buddyjackson avatar
Uncle Bud
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love this story. The problem with some parents today is that they can see no wrong in their own child's behavior. The mother of the kid who left early got what she deserved. Her child wasn't committed to this business venture. The kid who stayed was right to only split the profits made while the two worked together. The pouting kid's mother should have used this to teach her child about keeping commitments.

debrarobinson_4 avatar
Debrina Blackmoon
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The word is "KILLING", BP. Not even meaning to actually KILL.

adrianhobbs0 avatar
Adrian
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The sad thing is that, left to their own devices the two kids would have sorted things amicably themselves. The first kid was probably pouting 'cos his mum interfered.

noneanon avatar
Random Anon
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

You know the people complaining about how two pieces of bread and some vegetables costs way less than the sandwich they're paying? I've often tell them about the hidden costs of doing business like rent, utilities, wages et cetera over the years and guess what? They will remain adamantly indignant that all these businesses are ripping them off.

an-gu avatar
Anna Banana
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This is such a dissonance, considering that they still don't think it's worth their own time to make themselves a sandwich instead of buying it.

Load More Replies...
rickbose avatar
juliaartigue avatar
juice
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

i've seen other pandas speculate that advertisers don't like words such as "kill", "die", etc. or curse words, so BP censors them to keep ad money

Load More Replies...
skidog911 avatar
Kusotare
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Good for your kids for standing up for fairness when the neighbor kid bounced early in the first place. That suggests they had a pretty good idea what was fair going into this disastrous "partnership". I'd bet they learned another valuable lesson in the aftermath, too.

buddyjackson avatar
Uncle Bud
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I love this story. The problem with some parents today is that they can see no wrong in their own child's behavior. The mother of the kid who left early got what she deserved. Her child wasn't committed to this business venture. The kid who stayed was right to only split the profits made while the two worked together. The pouting kid's mother should have used this to teach her child about keeping commitments.

debrarobinson_4 avatar
Debrina Blackmoon
Community Member
1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The word is "KILLING", BP. Not even meaning to actually KILL.

adrianhobbs0 avatar
Adrian
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The sad thing is that, left to their own devices the two kids would have sorted things amicably themselves. The first kid was probably pouting 'cos his mum interfered.

Popular on Bored Panda
Trending on Bored Panda
Also on Bored Panda