Woman Is Annoyed Her Neighbor Comes To Her Landing And Lurks, So She Swings Open The Door, Frightening Her And Causing Her To Fall
Many people would probably agree that the best neighbor is one you don’t know exists. But most often that’s not the case because you can hear them stomping upstairs, you can hear a baby crying below, and there is a party going on in the other apartment on your floor.
Noises can really drive you insane, but even more annoying are those neighbors who come over for no reason and are too nosy for a stranger. This Redditor was so fed up with her neighbor snooping around her front door that she swung it open at the moment the woman was searching for something on the floor, wanting to scare her off, but made her fall.
More info: Reddit
Woman was worried about her neighbor snooping around but didn’t intend for her to injure herself
Image credits: Deb (not the actual photo)
The Original Poster (OP) is a woman living alone and she has been living in the same apartment for 5 years. The neighborhood she lives in is known for high crime levels and the building doesn’t have a secured gate, so the only extra security measure she has is her dog.
It’s a pretty big dog, but she isn’t aggressive and doesn’t have any other behavioral problems, except for barking at strangers when she’s at home. The dog owner purposely trained her to do that so the OP would know when someone’s coming to her door.
She doesn’t share a landing with a neighbor, so when someone comes up to her floor, they are definitely there for her. Sometimes strangers come and just lurk there, but the dog scares them away as she has a big bark.
The poster of the story lives with her dog that she trained to bark whenever someone is at the door
Image credits: reallifecountrysong
The building is pet friendly and the OP isn’t the only one who has a dog, but recently, a neighbor from the first floor started suspecting that the woman actually has two dogs as she didn’t believe the dog she saw the OP taking for a walk was the same one who barked in her apartment.
It seems that the neighbor reported the woman as she got an email from the property manager asking to inform them if she actually has two dogs. It’s not a big deal, but they want to be aware of it.
It kept barking at this one neighbor who would sometimes come just to lurk on her landing
Image credits: reallifecountrysong
But the weirdest thing the neighbor would do is lurk on the OP’s landing for no apparent reason. Sometimes she would bring up packages and mail, but other times the woman would look through the peephole and see the neighbor without anything to drop off.
The last time the neighbor came without a reason, she was bending down in front of the door and the OP couldn’t see what she was doing, so she decided to open the door. She did it quite suddenly and it scared the neighbor, who fell on her butt.
The neighbor thought that the woman had two dogs because she assumed that the dog she took for walks wasn’t the one barking
Image credits: reallifecountrysong
The neighbor cussed at the OP, but at least she proved to the nosy woman that she has only one dog and the low barking voice belonged to her. The Redditor realized that the neighbor must have hurt herself, but didn’t want any help.
The OP’s sister didn’t approve of the petty revenge because the neighbor who was older than the dog owner could have had a heart attack. But people in the comments immediately jumped to the conclusion that the neighbor was searching for a spare key and wanted to get into the OP’s apartment. The neighbor wouldn’t have been frightened if she was there with innocent intentions.
Once again, the neighbor came to snoop around and was bent over in front of the door, assumedly searching for something under the mat
Image credits: reallifecountrysong
Having a nosy neighbor is truly annoying because they aren’t technically doing anything illegal that you could report them for, but they make you feel uncomfortable. It bothers people so much that in a survey conducted in the UK, more than half of respondents revealed that the number one reason for disputes with neighbors is them being nosy.
This neighbor quality is more annoying to them than loud music, late night parties and dogs barking loudly.
The woman swung open the door to scare her off, but didn’t expect the neighbor to fall on her butt, seemingly injuring her
Image credits: reallifecountrysong
Home Cadet suggests a few solutions to nosy neighbors. You can carefully confront them or even have a casual conversation before that. You can also avoid them if you know you’re moving out soon or you aren’t comfortable confronting them yet. What can discourage nosy neighbors are also doorbell cameras, security alarms, and privacy screens.
But catching the neighbor in the act is the best way to confront the neighbor, according to Home Cadet. “If you confront them while they are being nosy, they won’t be able to deny what they are doing. Make sure to keep a level head, and stay firm.”
The nosy neighbor stormed off and the woman was called a jerk by her sister for not considering that the neighbor could have gotten a heart attack
Image credits: reallifecountrysong
Image credits: Natasha de Vere & Col Ford (not the actual photo)
Have you ever needed to deal with a nosy neighbor? What did they do and how did you handle it? Do you think the OP handled it appropriately? Also, do you agree with other Redditors that the neighbor might have wanted to find a spare key and get into the apartment? Do you think it was related to the dog? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Readers disagreed and believed the woman was right to scare the neighbor off as she wouldn’t have fallen if she wasn’t snooping
Image credits: Max Barners (not the actual photo)
The snoop deserved the shock... Also, every time i read these stories where the people are in the right to defend themselves, there are these other relatives or friends calling them AH... why?
We're raised to be nice instead of safe no matter how dangerous the situation can become - especially women. We're brainwashed to think self-preservation and safety is rude. Gavin DeBecker wrote an awesome book on it called 'The Gift of Fear'.
Load More Replies...Hmmm, só She had a " peeping tom " problem, opened the door, and the " peeping tom " fell on her a*s, and she's felling guilty??? Are you kidding me? If someone went to the door to make a delivery and She opened the door holding a machete, yea, that could look bad and scare the delivery person then She could feel a bit guilty. But this lol....
Even the machete holding would have been fine. It is her apartment and can hold anything she wants. Hell she could have been home butchering for all the nosey ones knew. Sounds like the neighbor might be a tad fixated and needs to learn some boundaries.
Load More Replies...Asking constantly about another dog, trying to see if it's okay to sneak in maybe. She thinks OP's dog is "harmless" but there's a big bark, so she assumes another dog. Put that fishing for info together with her touching your mail (sounds friendly but she could be looking through it), looking for a key, etc... not a good situation.
to be fair though, if there was a 337 year old person as my neighbor, I would've been curious as well
Do people really leave keys under the mat? May as well leave the front door open if you do that.
We did that back in the 80's/90's only if we knew someone would be coming over before we got home. Wasn't always under the mat, but under one of those (in retrospect so painfully obviously) fake rock things. These days most people I know have key safes
Load More Replies...Sounds like you need a door camera to record her coming when not having any need to do so. Also I suggest a lock box for your mail/ packages or a post box at the post office. She might start taking your stuff if she has no need to come up there. You can install the camera without door damage above your lock. And put a sign at the top of the stairwell that you have one if "not home camera can notify me of deliveries or visitors" with a smiley face to make it look innocent. She's out of her mind coming up to poke around all the time. Then you can tell landlord of the harassment w evidence and she can prob get tossed if it continues. Good pup!
Ahh, the mature and responsible way. Kudos to you. EVERY SINGLE PERSON HERE can't see the forrest from the trees; just a group of violent, angry and misguided vigilantes. The group mob mentality, only on social media.
Load More Replies...So what's the neighbour's game plan? "let me see if I can break into a house with a dog I consider aggressive"? Like, I have a 12 y/o spaniel and you'd still be leaving in a body bag. Just because a dog is "all wags" on a leash with its owner, it doesn't mean it won't rip the face off a complete stranger entering the house while it's alone.
Very true. We had a standard poodle and the newspaper guy, who was warned before many times, opened the door to drop our newspaper. The dog, who was lounging on top of the stairs, just jumped and caught his arm and wouldn't let go until someone came. His father came to complain and my father explained the situation. We had a grill on the outside of the door to put the NP there; no need to open the door. They wanted our dog to be put down so they went to Court. Our dog was a retired show dog and that helped a lot. He wasn't put down. This was in the late 1970s early 1980s.
Load More Replies...Make a little sign to put under the doormat! Write Peekaboo! or something similar on it. Make sure it is highly visible as soon as the doormat is lifted but invisible to everybody else
I love my dog for a billion reasons besides but I'm extra grateful to have him when I read stories like this! Lurking lady likely up to no good.
I can't imagine any other reason why this woman is snooping around on the landing and looking under her doormat unless it's to look for a key. So that she can snoop more, or steal from her, who knows. Hopefully the OP gets that ring camera so that she can document what this neighbour is doing. It's suspicious. Wonder if the neighbour is getting early onset dementia or something, weird behaviour; Her insisting the OP has another dog, and even reporting her for having another one, is also really odd behaviour.
I think the most amazing thing is she's a (337y) lady. That's some longevity!
Written complaint to landlord and police. Also- you may not been the only neighbor having problems with her
Op needs to inform landlord and possibly also speak to the police just incase her house gets broken into or the dog gets hurt. Start a paper trail because people like that really stop their behavior. Having had a neighbor like that myself it ended up with a restraining order
When you go out sometime, leave a note for her. "You can stop looking for a spare key under my doormat. I don't have any spare keys, so you can stop bothering me and do something useful."
The ÁSSHOLE, BP authors, the ÁSSHOLE. It's literally the title of the sub you're sourcing your stuff from, but you're too stuck-up-your-ásses to name it? 🙄
You must be new here... your comment suggests surprise as though this is a revelation LOL
Load More Replies...OPs "sister" said she was the AH - yeah right, OP just wanted to tell her story.
oh no a woman got her butt bruised after snooping how will she ever live
Load More Replies...The snoop deserved the shock... Also, every time i read these stories where the people are in the right to defend themselves, there are these other relatives or friends calling them AH... why?
We're raised to be nice instead of safe no matter how dangerous the situation can become - especially women. We're brainwashed to think self-preservation and safety is rude. Gavin DeBecker wrote an awesome book on it called 'The Gift of Fear'.
Load More Replies...Hmmm, só She had a " peeping tom " problem, opened the door, and the " peeping tom " fell on her a*s, and she's felling guilty??? Are you kidding me? If someone went to the door to make a delivery and She opened the door holding a machete, yea, that could look bad and scare the delivery person then She could feel a bit guilty. But this lol....
Even the machete holding would have been fine. It is her apartment and can hold anything she wants. Hell she could have been home butchering for all the nosey ones knew. Sounds like the neighbor might be a tad fixated and needs to learn some boundaries.
Load More Replies...Asking constantly about another dog, trying to see if it's okay to sneak in maybe. She thinks OP's dog is "harmless" but there's a big bark, so she assumes another dog. Put that fishing for info together with her touching your mail (sounds friendly but she could be looking through it), looking for a key, etc... not a good situation.
to be fair though, if there was a 337 year old person as my neighbor, I would've been curious as well
Do people really leave keys under the mat? May as well leave the front door open if you do that.
We did that back in the 80's/90's only if we knew someone would be coming over before we got home. Wasn't always under the mat, but under one of those (in retrospect so painfully obviously) fake rock things. These days most people I know have key safes
Load More Replies...Sounds like you need a door camera to record her coming when not having any need to do so. Also I suggest a lock box for your mail/ packages or a post box at the post office. She might start taking your stuff if she has no need to come up there. You can install the camera without door damage above your lock. And put a sign at the top of the stairwell that you have one if "not home camera can notify me of deliveries or visitors" with a smiley face to make it look innocent. She's out of her mind coming up to poke around all the time. Then you can tell landlord of the harassment w evidence and she can prob get tossed if it continues. Good pup!
Ahh, the mature and responsible way. Kudos to you. EVERY SINGLE PERSON HERE can't see the forrest from the trees; just a group of violent, angry and misguided vigilantes. The group mob mentality, only on social media.
Load More Replies...So what's the neighbour's game plan? "let me see if I can break into a house with a dog I consider aggressive"? Like, I have a 12 y/o spaniel and you'd still be leaving in a body bag. Just because a dog is "all wags" on a leash with its owner, it doesn't mean it won't rip the face off a complete stranger entering the house while it's alone.
Very true. We had a standard poodle and the newspaper guy, who was warned before many times, opened the door to drop our newspaper. The dog, who was lounging on top of the stairs, just jumped and caught his arm and wouldn't let go until someone came. His father came to complain and my father explained the situation. We had a grill on the outside of the door to put the NP there; no need to open the door. They wanted our dog to be put down so they went to Court. Our dog was a retired show dog and that helped a lot. He wasn't put down. This was in the late 1970s early 1980s.
Load More Replies...Make a little sign to put under the doormat! Write Peekaboo! or something similar on it. Make sure it is highly visible as soon as the doormat is lifted but invisible to everybody else
I love my dog for a billion reasons besides but I'm extra grateful to have him when I read stories like this! Lurking lady likely up to no good.
I can't imagine any other reason why this woman is snooping around on the landing and looking under her doormat unless it's to look for a key. So that she can snoop more, or steal from her, who knows. Hopefully the OP gets that ring camera so that she can document what this neighbour is doing. It's suspicious. Wonder if the neighbour is getting early onset dementia or something, weird behaviour; Her insisting the OP has another dog, and even reporting her for having another one, is also really odd behaviour.
I think the most amazing thing is she's a (337y) lady. That's some longevity!
Written complaint to landlord and police. Also- you may not been the only neighbor having problems with her
Op needs to inform landlord and possibly also speak to the police just incase her house gets broken into or the dog gets hurt. Start a paper trail because people like that really stop their behavior. Having had a neighbor like that myself it ended up with a restraining order
When you go out sometime, leave a note for her. "You can stop looking for a spare key under my doormat. I don't have any spare keys, so you can stop bothering me and do something useful."
The ÁSSHOLE, BP authors, the ÁSSHOLE. It's literally the title of the sub you're sourcing your stuff from, but you're too stuck-up-your-ásses to name it? 🙄
You must be new here... your comment suggests surprise as though this is a revelation LOL
Load More Replies...OPs "sister" said she was the AH - yeah right, OP just wanted to tell her story.
oh no a woman got her butt bruised after snooping how will she ever live
Load More Replies...
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