Delusional Neighbor Writes An Anonymous Letter To This Person Demanding They Get Rid Of Fake Plants On Their Porch Before They Take Legal Action
Interview
Disputes with neighbors have been part of communal living since the dawn of time. And while that surely doesn’t mean that it’s impossible to make friends with people you live next to, it may also happen that some neighbors make it a living hell for you.
Recently, a person who goes by HedgehogSmoothie on Reddit shared a picture of a letter they received from neighbors in the Mildly Infuriating community. The caption said “This poorly written letter from my passive-aggressive neighbor telling me to remove my ‘legally owned’ plants from my property.”
It turned out the author’s neighbors were so upset with the fake plants they thought they were devaluing their property. So apparently, HedgehogSmoothie has two days to remove their plants from their porch or else… well, there’s a threat of legal action.
A person shared this letter from neighbors demanding that they remove their plants because they’re devaluing the neighbors’ properties
Image credits: HedgehogSmoothie
Image credits: Polina Zimmerman (not the actual photo)
To find out more about this whole situation Bored Panda reached out to HedgehogSmoothie, the woman from Gainseville, Florida who received this letter. “I was initially really worried at first receiving the letter. Even though I knew that I had done nothing wrong, I was still worried that the neighbor might have taken things further, or remove the plants themselves if I didn’t remove them. I came home one day to find it stuck on our porch window with tape,” she recounted.
“I (39F) live in Gainseville, Florida with my husband (and 2 cats!) and sometimes there are a lot of disputes in the neighborhood I live in, but they’re usually not too serious so we were a little conflicted, but also amused by the letter,” the author added.
Image credits: Francesca Tosolini (not the actual photo)
When asked whether the woman who received this weird letter has ever had problems with her neighbors, she said that she is on good terms with most of our neighbors and so is my husband.
“But I know a friend in the neighborhood who got a handwritten letter about ‘disruptive’ halloween decorations last year. The letter said that his Halloween props were disruptive because they ‘lit up’ and caused too much noise to other neighbors. But the houses are spaced out enough to the point where it wouldn’t bother anyone, unless they were on his property.”
The woman also said that she has “spoken to him since and even though his letter was handwritten and not printed, we still think it was from the same person due to the way it was written.”
Image credits: HedgehogSmoothie
Later HedgehogSmoothie said she spoke to her partner and they talked about getting a camera set-up installed near their porch (“a suggestion from Reddit!,” she said). “Though I was afraid at first, we think it’s just an empty threat from someone who feels like they have a lot of authority.”
It turns out, HedgehogSmoothie received a second letter a couple of days after receiving the first, not having removed the plants. “The second letter basically is less threatening, and is just them saying I was being given a ‘warning’, and I should have my plants removed by December… which isn’t going to happen!”
“A lot of people were speculating our house is part of an HOA, which actually isn’t true at all, otherwise I wouldn’t have posted a picture holding the letter,” HedgehogSmoothie said.
“Lastly because a lot of people were asking! The artificial plants in question are two potted artificial fern plants, that are sitting opposite to each other in our porch beside our door, and we also have a string of pearls, and a potted begonia plant, that are also fake. They don’t look artificial, so I think they must have at least touched it to discover it,” the woman concluded.
And this is what people thought about this whole situation
I love the idea of circling the misspelled words in red pen, and giving a D- grade to the letter.
The D~grade would be acceptable for the level of Douchebaggery that the person went to to send that letter to OP... or they could go with the grade F for Fûcktard, because the neighbor is so ridiculous.
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Just imagine this asshat calling the police: "My neighbor has potted plants made of plastic! Make them remove this heresy from the porch!" But realtalk, why should anyone care about the neighbors plants when buying a house??
Would they even KNOW the word 'heresy"? XD They'd probably replace it with "heckle" and think it meant the same thing. XD
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As a hypothetical buyer, I wouldn't give a rat's butt about artificial or real flowers but I would REALLY REALLY like to know in advance about insane Karens and their 14 (hopefully all imaginary?) neighbors in my potential neighborhood.
I'd take it to the police as a threat. There should be legal documentation of harassment. It is a ridiculously childlike letter but who knows how far the writer will go.
I'd buy more fake plants, along with some pink flamingos and garden gnomes! Make it look as tacky as possible.
I really dislike fake plants. I wouldn't think twice about buying a home in a neighborhood with them though. Not a big deal. I love that this letter writer thinks the police can be called to write a lawsuit. And what cowards to not sign their names.
I doubt there is a "their," just one nutcase who thinks they speak for the whole neighborhood
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The "Note:" confuses me the most. I read it as, "We've chosen to stay anonymous, as is our legal right. We're offering you that same right." Two things immediately spring to mind with that. One, the homeowner's right to anonymity has already been shattered, as they were delivered a letter to their home. Two, there's a little thing called the Sixth Amendment, which includes this clause: "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to be confronted with the witnesses against him." So, no, if you're threatening legal action, you don't get to stay anonymous.
This is clearly a person who has little idea how the world works doing their best to sound important and make it seem like this letter has some sort of official weight when clearly they don't even know how to write a proper letter. I'm guessing the "we" is fictional, along with everything else they claim they can do. This letter has about the same ring of truth, and writing quality, as the Nigerian prince who needs my help to regain his fortune.
Load More Replies... What makes somebody think he/she can dictate somebody else's porch decoration?
Wow. The amount of free time this person must have.. I’d just add a whole bunch more for shits and giggles.
Either 14 people join them to their "secret meeting" to rent about fake plants and it means the neigboorhiod is terrible... Either there are 14 imaginary people in this letter.
This letter writer is insane and lives in a fantasy world where everyone caters to them. My neighbor has a lot of cute decorations on her porch and I like them, but even if I didn't I wouldn't even think about writing a letter like this to her to tell her that. I seriously doubt that fourteen other people, including a government official agreed to have a meeting over something this stupid. I agree with some people that are saying that the OP needs to get security cameras for when this person stupidly trespasses on their property over these fake plants. It would also be funny to witness the police come out and write them a ticket for filing a false report.
Spray the fake plants with Endust and give them a beautiful shine, maybe the neighbors will see how much prettier they are.
1. Set the old plant closer to the stairs of the porch. 2. Rub poison ivy all over it. 3. wait.
"Oh no, fake plants what an abomination! Remove them from your porch quite immediately! " Lol, what else? I don't like that you house is blue, paint it white or I call police? I would like to see how they explain this to police.
They should make a TikTok or YouTube video with someone pretending to be a prospective buyer coming towards their porch, loudly proclaiming "I was thinking of buying a house somewhere down the street" and then 'spotting' the plastic plants and running away screaming "Oh, NO! Plastic plants! The HORROR!". Then provide all of your neighbors with a flyer providing the video's URL and the question "is this the kind of person you want buying a home in this neighborhood?"
The only correct response here is to buy a gross of plastic flamingos (that's 144 flamingos) and place them in your yard so they spell "F YOU"
screw a small but loud rape alarm to the plant pot at the rear. connect a string or wire to the pin that activates the alarm when pulled out and screw it to the ground or wall where it cant be seen. When they pick up the plant will take up slack in the alarm which they won't be able to stop. Put a No trespassing notice on your porch.
If they come upon my property, I'll conceal my weapon and open the door telling them to remove themselves from my property. If the get physical, I will stand my 2A ground, thank you. I guarantee that's just one crazy person doing that. Nobody else will care about the fake plants.
Pretty sure this is the same guy that writes assembly instructions for imported items.
Okay, but let's say that we are talking about giant inflatable neon palm trees or something - which I doubt because it says potted plants - but for the sake of argument let's say this is something that is legitimately lowering the value of the surrounding houses. Their neighbour wrote a letter full of false legal allegations regarding decorative belongings kept well within their property line (their porch), wherein they fraudulently represent themselves, and threaten to commit a crime if their demands aren't met (trespassing and removing their neighbour's belongings from their property). I can't think of any instance or context where that would be the appropriate response. It seems like if they really had a legitimate complaint, they would at least have the actual support of other neighbours (which based on this I doubt, because that's when petitions and local representatives come in). Vocabulary aside, resorting to issuing an anonymous threat to trespass, remove and possibly damage their neighbour's property is not the solution. The intent of the letter is to scare this person into complying with bogus claims, whatever way you look at it. If I were the person who received it I wouldn't just be pissed and annoyed and mildly amused at what a fail of a letter it is - frankly I'd also feel very uncomfortable and possibly a little unsafe that someone who lives close to me felt like that was an okay thing to do.
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I love the idea of circling the misspelled words in red pen, and giving a D- grade to the letter.
The D~grade would be acceptable for the level of Douchebaggery that the person went to to send that letter to OP... or they could go with the grade F for Fûcktard, because the neighbor is so ridiculous.
Load More Replies... Just imagine this asshat calling the police: "My neighbor has potted plants made of plastic! Make them remove this heresy from the porch!" But realtalk, why should anyone care about the neighbors plants when buying a house??
Would they even KNOW the word 'heresy"? XD They'd probably replace it with "heckle" and think it meant the same thing. XD
Load More Replies... As a hypothetical buyer, I wouldn't give a rat's butt about artificial or real flowers but I would REALLY REALLY like to know in advance about insane Karens and their 14 (hopefully all imaginary?) neighbors in my potential neighborhood.
I'd take it to the police as a threat. There should be legal documentation of harassment. It is a ridiculously childlike letter but who knows how far the writer will go.
I'd buy more fake plants, along with some pink flamingos and garden gnomes! Make it look as tacky as possible.
I really dislike fake plants. I wouldn't think twice about buying a home in a neighborhood with them though. Not a big deal. I love that this letter writer thinks the police can be called to write a lawsuit. And what cowards to not sign their names.
I doubt there is a "their," just one nutcase who thinks they speak for the whole neighborhood
Load More Replies... The "Note:" confuses me the most. I read it as, "We've chosen to stay anonymous, as is our legal right. We're offering you that same right." Two things immediately spring to mind with that. One, the homeowner's right to anonymity has already been shattered, as they were delivered a letter to their home. Two, there's a little thing called the Sixth Amendment, which includes this clause: "in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right...to be confronted with the witnesses against him." So, no, if you're threatening legal action, you don't get to stay anonymous.
This is clearly a person who has little idea how the world works doing their best to sound important and make it seem like this letter has some sort of official weight when clearly they don't even know how to write a proper letter. I'm guessing the "we" is fictional, along with everything else they claim they can do. This letter has about the same ring of truth, and writing quality, as the Nigerian prince who needs my help to regain his fortune.
Load More Replies... What makes somebody think he/she can dictate somebody else's porch decoration?
Wow. The amount of free time this person must have.. I’d just add a whole bunch more for shits and giggles.
Either 14 people join them to their "secret meeting" to rent about fake plants and it means the neigboorhiod is terrible... Either there are 14 imaginary people in this letter.
This letter writer is insane and lives in a fantasy world where everyone caters to them. My neighbor has a lot of cute decorations on her porch and I like them, but even if I didn't I wouldn't even think about writing a letter like this to her to tell her that. I seriously doubt that fourteen other people, including a government official agreed to have a meeting over something this stupid. I agree with some people that are saying that the OP needs to get security cameras for when this person stupidly trespasses on their property over these fake plants. It would also be funny to witness the police come out and write them a ticket for filing a false report.
Spray the fake plants with Endust and give them a beautiful shine, maybe the neighbors will see how much prettier they are.
1. Set the old plant closer to the stairs of the porch. 2. Rub poison ivy all over it. 3. wait.
"Oh no, fake plants what an abomination! Remove them from your porch quite immediately! " Lol, what else? I don't like that you house is blue, paint it white or I call police? I would like to see how they explain this to police.
They should make a TikTok or YouTube video with someone pretending to be a prospective buyer coming towards their porch, loudly proclaiming "I was thinking of buying a house somewhere down the street" and then 'spotting' the plastic plants and running away screaming "Oh, NO! Plastic plants! The HORROR!". Then provide all of your neighbors with a flyer providing the video's URL and the question "is this the kind of person you want buying a home in this neighborhood?"
The only correct response here is to buy a gross of plastic flamingos (that's 144 flamingos) and place them in your yard so they spell "F YOU"
screw a small but loud rape alarm to the plant pot at the rear. connect a string or wire to the pin that activates the alarm when pulled out and screw it to the ground or wall where it cant be seen. When they pick up the plant will take up slack in the alarm which they won't be able to stop. Put a No trespassing notice on your porch.
If they come upon my property, I'll conceal my weapon and open the door telling them to remove themselves from my property. If the get physical, I will stand my 2A ground, thank you. I guarantee that's just one crazy person doing that. Nobody else will care about the fake plants.
Pretty sure this is the same guy that writes assembly instructions for imported items.
Okay, but let's say that we are talking about giant inflatable neon palm trees or something - which I doubt because it says potted plants - but for the sake of argument let's say this is something that is legitimately lowering the value of the surrounding houses. Their neighbour wrote a letter full of false legal allegations regarding decorative belongings kept well within their property line (their porch), wherein they fraudulently represent themselves, and threaten to commit a crime if their demands aren't met (trespassing and removing their neighbour's belongings from their property). I can't think of any instance or context where that would be the appropriate response. It seems like if they really had a legitimate complaint, they would at least have the actual support of other neighbours (which based on this I doubt, because that's when petitions and local representatives come in). Vocabulary aside, resorting to issuing an anonymous threat to trespass, remove and possibly damage their neighbour's property is not the solution. The intent of the letter is to scare this person into complying with bogus claims, whatever way you look at it. If I were the person who received it I wouldn't just be pissed and annoyed and mildly amused at what a fail of a letter it is - frankly I'd also feel very uncomfortable and possibly a little unsafe that someone who lives close to me felt like that was an okay thing to do.
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