Man Develops An Unlikely Friendship With 14 Y.O. Neighbor After Spraying Him With Water For Walking Across His Lawn Daily
Unexpected things await us around every corner. New acquaintances, relationships, business opportunities, treasures, and all of the losses that come with them.
A lot of people have crazy stories of how they met their friends and loved ones because of random coincidences or chance circumstances.
In today’s story, we’ve got the same motif. A dad just wanted to get a kid off his lawn and started hosing him down with water, but made an unexpected friend in the process.
More info: Reddit
It just goes to show that you can become friends with people in the most unexpected of ways
Image credits: Ryan Scott (not the actual photo)
The poster wanted to know if he’s a jerk for spraying down a neighbors’ kid for trampling his lawn with soccer cleats
Image credits: tway23421
Image credits: Brooke Raymond (not the actual photo)
The kid, undeterred by the water, began coming over daily and even chatting with the dad
Image credits: tway23421
The kid decreased his stomping across the lawn and the dad started to enjoy his company, talking for 15-20 minutes at a time
After some peeps suggested that perhaps the original poster’s (OP) kids and the neighbor could hang out, OP amusingly said “he’s my friend, my kids have enough of their own,” with another commenter jokingly saying: “Dad called dibs hahaha.”
In this wholesome story something like out of a ’90s sitcom, we’ve got a kid and a dad. He’d trespass in the dad’s yard with soccer cleats or on his bike, which would annoy the dad.
Whenever this happened, the dad started spraying him down with the water hose, but the kid just enjoyed it, washing his hair or whatever he had with him. Eventually they started chatting for 15-20 minutes every day, having a seemingly wholesome and fun relationship.
His wife said it’s making him look foolish and silly, but OP disagreed and took online to get some second opinions.
Some people in the comments also thought that the neighbors’ kid is lacking attention and just looking for someone to connect with in some meaningful (if very unconventional) way.
You see a lot of people trying to force relationships when they’re feeling lonely and hoping they can aggressively “friend” someone, but the truth is that it happens when you don’t want it to happen, in an ironic twist of fate.
And although OP’s story is unconventional, if you’re looking for friends, your best bet is work, studies, hobbies, things where you’re not actively meeting people, but rather doing things that are interesting to both of you.
Of course, that’s often not enough, and you’ve got to put in some effort to present yourself and be nice to others if you want to get anywhere in this entire “friends” business, but if you put the work in and know a couple of tips, you’re certain to find your tribe.
Image credits: onnola (not the actual photo)
According to the Training magazine, there are certain things that you should do if you want to build positive relationships.
A big thing is that you should accept and celebrate differences. It’s going to be difficult if you look for people who think exactly the same way as you do, hold all the same beliefs, and like the things as you do. For a start, you’re likely to not find identical people like that, and another thing is that you’ll be in a sort of echo chamber, exposed to the same ideas and experiences all the time.
If you open yourself to new experiences, you’re much more likely to find new things you like and people who you’ll get along with over those experiences.
Another key skill is listening to people. In an age where you’re bombarded with audio ads whenever you’re watching something or are out in the mall, you learn to shut all of it off.
But listening to people isn’t just a passive activity; you need to concentrate and actually hang on to every word the other person is saying to be a truly active listener.
According to Co-Active, there are specific stages of listening and you should strive to achieve the higher ones.
At the highest level, you’re not only listening to their voice, but also to their body language, inflection, and gestures. You’re taking it all in, to better understand them and what they want you to know. Truly active listening is a huge part of befriending anyone and everyone.
The story collected nearly a whopping 21k upvotes in a matter of 3 days and almost 1.7k comments. When one commenter called him out for having too much time on his hands, OP replied with “true bros find a way to make the time,” cementing himself as a really cool guy.
Commenters shared the same sentiment, saying how wholesome and cute the whole thing is.
The comments agreed that the poster wasn’t a jerk for spraying the kid, but that their relationship was cool and wholesome
Image credits: Seika (not the actual photo)
158Kviews
Share on FacebookDefinitely. This kid seems like he really is lonely or smth
Load More Replies...Love the way this has evolved. Ask if you can bring your kids to one of his games.
Hey, I don't know much about soccer cleats, but when I decided to try out for track & field in high school my dad (who had been a high jump champ back in the day, so was the voice of experience) made a point of emphasizing that cleats should absolutely not be worn off the field, as it ruins the cleats themselves along with whatever they walk on. Does this kid just not have sneakers, or something?
So as a younger kid, most cleats are rubber and wont matter as much. track and field spikes, at least for me, were metal. walking with metal spikes anywhere but the track is a good way to ruing them
Load More Replies...You really never know where friendship may come from. I was 25(f) when I got hit by a car crossing a busy street on my lunch break. The Person did stop, was a 19(f) and came running to me bawling her eyes out. I very destinctly remember having one arm around her, trying to comfort her as i cried on the phone to my mom.. "Its gonna be OK, mom i just got hit by a car and the ambulance is here.. Its ok, its OK"... Thankfully I wasn't seriously injured. She took me to dinner and A movie the next week and we became friends... I loved telling people "This is my friend Hannah.. We met by accident."😂💗
The good thing about growing up is that "looking like an idiot" stops being a reason to not do (or: to do!) anything. No peers to pressure you into conforming; do what makes sense to you unless you infringe on others' freedom.
It sounds like a friendship has developed. Instead of hosing him, he should offer him a cold drink and possibly have a lawn chair ready for him to sit in while he drinks it and chats
You need help. Spraying a kid with water is a demented old man move. Get over your lawn. Can't believe you are still spraying this kid
I hope he didn't stop. The kid was angry. He was acting out. Now he isn't and he is getting some healthy time with an adult. Ask for help in the yard. That kid NEEDS him...
Seems like the kid really needs attention and somebody to talk to. But I don't understand why OP didn't just put up a fence.
If they both enjoy the interaction, who cares?! Clearly the kids parents don't, the kid doesn't and OP doesn't. Maybe the kids home life is really rough and this interaction he gets is the only positive adult relationship he has. Who knows. But as long as they both "know the score" and r good with it, and no one is getting hurt, the who cares?! Let the boys have their fun!
Nta. But if the kid's parents ask you to stop, I would. If you both are getting enjoyment out of and learning about each other, keep doing what you're doing
What is wrong with this guy and all the comments about how sweet this is. How are cleats from one kid harming his lawn and what kind of nut just sits in a chair hosing off a strange kid off. Both of them have issues that require professional help. This isn't sweet it's borderline abuse.
You do know that the kid enjoys being sprayed right?
Load More Replies...The extended points on the bottom of football (soccer, if you must) boots are called studs, not cleats.
Pretty pedantic difference. The shoes are called cleats so 'digging his cleats into my lawn' is accurate. If he were to write 'digging his studs into my lawn' would also be accurate but less understandable to people who don't have an extensive knowledge of soccer. BTW, the term soccer originated in England, specifically University of Oxford. It has an interesting etymology
Load More Replies...Definitely. This kid seems like he really is lonely or smth
Load More Replies...Love the way this has evolved. Ask if you can bring your kids to one of his games.
Hey, I don't know much about soccer cleats, but when I decided to try out for track & field in high school my dad (who had been a high jump champ back in the day, so was the voice of experience) made a point of emphasizing that cleats should absolutely not be worn off the field, as it ruins the cleats themselves along with whatever they walk on. Does this kid just not have sneakers, or something?
So as a younger kid, most cleats are rubber and wont matter as much. track and field spikes, at least for me, were metal. walking with metal spikes anywhere but the track is a good way to ruing them
Load More Replies...You really never know where friendship may come from. I was 25(f) when I got hit by a car crossing a busy street on my lunch break. The Person did stop, was a 19(f) and came running to me bawling her eyes out. I very destinctly remember having one arm around her, trying to comfort her as i cried on the phone to my mom.. "Its gonna be OK, mom i just got hit by a car and the ambulance is here.. Its ok, its OK"... Thankfully I wasn't seriously injured. She took me to dinner and A movie the next week and we became friends... I loved telling people "This is my friend Hannah.. We met by accident."😂💗
The good thing about growing up is that "looking like an idiot" stops being a reason to not do (or: to do!) anything. No peers to pressure you into conforming; do what makes sense to you unless you infringe on others' freedom.
It sounds like a friendship has developed. Instead of hosing him, he should offer him a cold drink and possibly have a lawn chair ready for him to sit in while he drinks it and chats
You need help. Spraying a kid with water is a demented old man move. Get over your lawn. Can't believe you are still spraying this kid
I hope he didn't stop. The kid was angry. He was acting out. Now he isn't and he is getting some healthy time with an adult. Ask for help in the yard. That kid NEEDS him...
Seems like the kid really needs attention and somebody to talk to. But I don't understand why OP didn't just put up a fence.
If they both enjoy the interaction, who cares?! Clearly the kids parents don't, the kid doesn't and OP doesn't. Maybe the kids home life is really rough and this interaction he gets is the only positive adult relationship he has. Who knows. But as long as they both "know the score" and r good with it, and no one is getting hurt, the who cares?! Let the boys have their fun!
Nta. But if the kid's parents ask you to stop, I would. If you both are getting enjoyment out of and learning about each other, keep doing what you're doing
What is wrong with this guy and all the comments about how sweet this is. How are cleats from one kid harming his lawn and what kind of nut just sits in a chair hosing off a strange kid off. Both of them have issues that require professional help. This isn't sweet it's borderline abuse.
You do know that the kid enjoys being sprayed right?
Load More Replies...The extended points on the bottom of football (soccer, if you must) boots are called studs, not cleats.
Pretty pedantic difference. The shoes are called cleats so 'digging his cleats into my lawn' is accurate. If he were to write 'digging his studs into my lawn' would also be accurate but less understandable to people who don't have an extensive knowledge of soccer. BTW, the term soccer originated in England, specifically University of Oxford. It has an interesting etymology
Load More Replies...
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