I know that we’re supposed to be kind to our neighbors, but some neighbors make it difficult.  I never had a problem with neighbors until moving into my most recent apartment.  The walls and floors of the apartment are very thin.  Luckily, we live on the top floor so it’s not a major issue for us.  Unfortunately, the people below us are very sensitive to the noise.  If we walk on our floor with shoes, watch TV, or listen to music at a normal volume they angrily knock on the ceiling with a broom.  We’re very sensitive to what the noise must be like for them, so we comply by keeping the volume very low, speaking at lower volumes, not wearing shoes at all inside, etc.

We have a beautiful and big patio, but can’t have people over because of them.  We try to comply and be thoughtful to our neighbors, but everyone has a limit.

Last week I decided it was finally time to get cable for the apartment.  I did what any law abiding citizen would do, and called up my cable provider, ordered the service, and had it installed.  A week later I received a call from the landlord claiming that the neighbors complained that ever since “our” cable guy came they have been without cable.  The landlord midway through speaking with us must have realized that this wasn’t an issue of our causing, because he told us he needed to call the neighbors back.  Sure enough I received a call back from my landlord saying that the neighbors had been stealing their cable.

Dear Neighbors,

If you are stealing cable, and do not inform your neighbors that you are stealing cable, and they call a cable guy it is not their fault.  Do not proceed by calling a landlord to complain, as you were doing something illegal.

Difficult neighbors can make living at even the best apartment unbearable.  When neighbors are making life hard, what do you do?