My neighbor sucks and I'm tired of pretending she doesn't
Screaming toddler. Howling dog. It's loud when she's home and loud when she's gone. I can't complain about it to anyone. Babies cry. Dogs bark. That's just a part of apartment living.
But whyyyyyy did she have to move into my building? It's small. Her until is more or less a studio apartment (I used to cat sit for the previous tenant) and she has a toddler, an 11 year old, and a dog in there. I understand that someone in that sized family moving into a studio apartment is probably having a hard time and most likely fleeing from something. And I do feel for her. That's why I'm venting here on Reddit instead of sending a noise complaint to the landlord. Even so, I live in an extremely expensive part of town. I know that unit $2500/mo. There is absolutely no way that was the best option for that lady with her 2 kids and her dog.
That being said, my gripe with her is that she is blatantly rude, but whenever I complain people justify all her actions with motherhood!!
It all started with her initial reaction to me. The layout of the building is very unique and the tenants often cross paths. It's a nice little community made nicer by the fact that we can greet each other by name. My partner and I still hang out with a few of the people who moved out. The first time i ran into this woman I visibly brightened and went to introduce myself, but she scowled and turned away. When I tell this story, people will be like "aw she's a single mother." So??? I believe that everyone owes everyone kindness. I was going to be kind despite her screaming child and howling dog. She could have at least smiled and given me a dismissive nod.
For the past few nights, I could hear her TV. Through the walls, through earplugs, past my white noise machine. I let it slide for a night or two because I figured it would eventually stop. It didn't. Now people can't control babies that cry or dogs that bark, but they can definitely control the volume on their TV, so kindly asked her to turn the volume down. I swear she turned it louder. Omg. And when I complained about it on the phone with my mom she went "aw, the neighbor that's a new mom?"
I'm tired of pretending the noise from her apartment isn't annoying. I'm tired of acting like her snub was justified by motherhood. She made all these decisions in her life, including moving to a cramped, expensive apartment. I'm the one without a kid and without a dog who has to now suffer the worst elements of both. Call me crazy, but if you're going to be an objectively terrible neighbor, you should want to be a good neighbor in the ways you can control.