When life hands you Gladys Kravitz as a neighbor...

[EstimatedProphet]

So the Prophetess and I moved into our apartment at the first of February. The apartment complex has 8 units, of which (at the time of moving in) had the adjoining apartment and the apartment across the hall empty-now they are still empty, and the apartment immediately above us is just vacated. The other apartments are full of retired women. Anyway...

At the beginning of March we went to Vegas for a weekend. We came back, and a note was on the door addressed to me from the neighbor diagonally across from us, complaining about how I was the only one in the building that didn't take care of the washer/dryer, like cleaning the lint trap, checking the clothing drum, etc, and she claimed that "someone" (her of course) had called the landlord to complain. Oy. 1) this is simply not true-I take care of it as much as anyone else, and 2) how the hell would she know anyway? We called the landlord to make sure he knew our side, and he told us (in effect) don't worry about it.

Well, since then, we see the "neighbor" watching us every time we come home, do the laundry, or even step outside our apartment. Tonight we came home to a note complaining that I have parked in the common parking lot for the apartment (instead of my private garage space), and this is taking up space needed for other tenants and visitors. It has been there for 3 days. Only problem is: I have yet to see the parking lot more than 1/3 full. It is a common parking lot used by everyone here, so parking is what it is for. I pay extra to park in the garage because the apartment comes with one garage slot which the Prophetess uses. If I quit paying for the extra garage space I will be parking exactly where my vehicle is now. Oyoyoy.

We're fed up with being under surveillance by someone who has taken it upon herself to play secret agent. Has anyone else had a situation like this, and if so, how was it resolved?

[punpirate]

1. Ummm...

... while it may not seem worth the effort, turnabout is always fair play. Follow her around for a while. :)

[EstimatedProphet]

14. I like that. She watches us from her window whenever we are outside.

Turnabout being fair play, maybe we should sit outside her window with popcorn and stare in. Every now and again ask her to put on Comedy Central. Complain that she doesn't get HBO.

[Ariana Celeste]

29. LOL!

Sounds like a bit of fun, give her a taste! :7

[Left Is Write]

30. Suggest she turn on TVLand when Bewitched is on.

;)

[chicagojoe]

2. Knock on her door some day,

and make sure you're not wearing any pants when you do so. Tell her someone stole your pants from the laundry, and you think it was her.
I doubt if she'll bother you too much after that.

[GreenPartyVoter]

16. *lol*

[sandnsea]

3. Help her out

Every time you do laundry, bring her the lint. When the prophetess is parked in the garage, knock on the door and inform her. And anything else you can think of. Just drive her nuts with her own nosiness.

Or you could invite her over for popcorn and a movie, Duplex. :)

[EstimatedProphet]

15. Bring her the lint...hmmm

Maybe we should save the lint for like, a couple months. Put it in a big bag and empty it out in front of her door.

[EFerrari]

4. This is just her way of welcoming you into the building.

Seriously. No matter what she says or does, just smile and nod.

She's checking your smile-and-nod-o-meter.

:)

[radwriter0555]

10. I have to agree. And for someone to be so lonely and pathetic that

dryer lint falls within their social scheme on a daily basis.... she's a very lonely person with limited social skills.

I think popcorn and movies are on the agenda... but I wouldn't worry about her. She's a minor annoyance in the world.

Smile and nod and agree with everything, and tell her what (a) great idea it all is, and thank her for all she does.

[radfringe]

5. are you living near my sister?

she's had the same problem for a few months. a new neighbor moved in a few months ago. since then she's gotten complaints about her kids, playing stereo too loud, yadda yadda yadda

well - kids are either in school, after-school programs, or at our parents home until my sister gets home from work. Stereo too loud?? my sister just has a radio that she seldom plays.

so why the complaints? When the neighbor was moving in, the truck was blocking the entrance - my sister asked them to just move it for a couple of minutes so she could get into the parking garage. Since then the neighbor has had her nose out of joint.

the condo association knows about it, neighbor complains about everything and everyone, but has particularly targeted my sister. but it won't be a problem for much longer - my sister has the condo on the market and is looking for a house to buy - has nothing to do with the neighbor, it's just been part of her long term plans

[peacefreak]

6. I had a neighbor like that when I was a kid.

My parents loved it because we couldn't get away with anything because Ol'Flossie was watching. We knew when she was at her post because we could see the glowing tip of her cigarette in the dark.

[acmavm]

7. Oh my goodness, we had one of those once. Georgia K*****. No matter

what time, day or night, you could see the corner of her curtains opening a crack everytime a car door shut or someone walked by, or any noise of any kind occurred. And she was best friends with another woman who worked for a government agency and was just as bad if not worse than she was. Between the two of them, what they didn't know they made up. They caused quite a lot of trouble for some people.

I truly dispise people like that.

[baldguy]

8. Put a note on her door complaining about her cats.

So much the better if she doesn't have any.

[matcom]

9. pre-emptively "inform" her every time you come home

seriously. here is what you do:

every day when you leave your apt, knock on her door. when she answers smile and say, "I just wanted to let you know i'm going to work now."

every day when you come home, knock on her door. when she answers smile and say, "I just wanted to let you know i'm home now."

every day when you are ready to do laundry, knock on her door. when she answers smile and say, "I'm headed down to do laundry now."

when you are done with laundry, knock on her door. when she answers smile and say, "I just wanted to let you know i'm done with my laundry."

keep that up for maybe 3 or 4 days straight (a week if your enjoying it) and i bet she cuts her shit out.

have fun :hi:

[Blue Diadem]

11. My oldest son did something similar with a neighbor we have,

She could tell us which one of us got up first in the morning and used the bathroom..and we live in a house some 100ft away! I have never figured out how she knew that. I caught her standing beside our back porch when we had our door open, listening to our conversations. Up until then, I wondered why she would often bring up what we had just been talking about the night before.

My son didn't go knock, but would see her peering out her window so he'd wave wildly, say Hi _____, "I'm leaving now"..or I'm just going to the store/work/school/date. He was 17-18 at the time..used to get my goat by doing that, but ya know..it worked!

[Phentex]

18. I love this idea best!

and I would love to hear the reaction. :)

[underpants]

12. Okay first get a manilla file-fill it with a mixture of

dog shit and shaving cream. Wedge the open end under her door. Forcefully slam your foot down on the back end.

Now here is where you can add your own personal touch-either run back into the apartment and watch through the eyehole in the door OR just stand there and when she comes out read her the riot act but admit nothing.

[EstimatedProphet]

13. One of the things we thought about doing

Gladys Kravitz' front door is right across from the washer and dryer, and I am positive she watches us through the peephole every time we do laundry. We thought about having special laundry day t-shirts made that say "mind your own fucking business" on the back.

[leftofthedial]

17. I'm complaining to Skinner

You routinely post about YOUR issues and concerns here, taking up space that could be used by other DU members and visitors. I'm keeping an eye on you mister.

I think some old people just don't have anything better to do with their time, so they stick their noses in other people's business.

[sleipnir]

19. Buy a large rat, deprive it of food for a couple days and THEN

let it loose in the nosey neighbor's apartment! She'll be too busy with the rat to ever complain again and will know that you are not a person to be trifled with.

:evilgrin:

[ArkDem]

20. Maybe Lenny can get her to stop.

[ronnykmarshall]

21. Here she is!

[Richardo]

22. Abnah!!! ABNAH!!!

:D

[Love Bug]

23. For the next few days, carry a camera with you

Whenever you see her watching you, take her picture. It doesn't even matter if you have film or not.

[EstimatedProphet]

33. That's good.

[KurtNYC]

24. My friends had a neighbor that would stare into their

kitchen, blantantly. These were apartments, two buildings right next to each other. They staged a fight where one seemed to stab the other with a kitchen knife. He held the knife up high then brought it down where the window frame blocked her view for the fake stabbing part. He actually plunged his knife hand into ketchup so it comes up all red and bloody looking. He acts like he is stunned by his own actions, drops the knife, looks over at the neighbor with a stunned expresion then he pulls the shades.

As fast as they can, the clean up the kitchen and set themsleves up in the living room. When the cops came to their door (she called them of course), they told the cops that she had been a problem for them but seemed to be deranged so they have just put up with her. The cops then talked to the neighbor and warned her about calling 911 without cause.

Not that I think this would work for you but it is kind of fun to think about. Good luck with her.

[TheProphetess]

25. Holy shit!

That's damn funny!

I personally would like to tape a note to her door saying "please direct any future complaints directly to the landlord" and then list both his office and home phone numbers on it. As if she doesn't already have them on speed dial. Yuck.

[Debbi801]

26. I love this. I'll need to file this idea away for future use.

:-)

[MuseRider]

27. My mother has returned

from the dead. Be very afraid. That was how she got her entertainment the last 15 years of her life. That and then calling me to tell me what everyone was up to. Rotsa Ruck with that lady.

You could try to type up a schedule letting her know when you will be going in or out and tell her that it is for her convenience so she will know ahead of time and not have to keep running back and forth to her window. :shrug:

[CottonBear]

28. OMG. I have a neighbor like that. My sympathies.

I own a town home in a condominium neighborhood. There are no renters allowed. You can't rent your home but you can have a roommate. (we live in a college town and this gets around the problems of the student ghetto or party neighborhood.)

Anyway, it's a very nice neighborhood and most everyone is very polite and friendly. We have a great homeowners association which keeps things running smoothly.

But, there is this one neighbor who drives everyone nuts: "Grumpy Francis." She is older and retired. NO husband. No pets. She does have two daughters who visit several times a week. I think that she is lonely and/or bored. She is intelligent but very surly.

She spies on everyone from her windows. She cut down an entire 30 year old mature evergreen shrub (against condo rules) so that she could see better. She yelled at my stepdaughter for leaving our hose running. (I read her the riot act and told her to never, ever yell at my stepdaughter ever again.) She left a nasty note and a bag of cat shit hanging on my garden gate: she claimed that my cat shit in her garden (there are about 20 outdoor cats in the neighborhood.) She left me a nasty note about parking within 6 inches of the white line of my assigned parking space. She left me a nasty note about walking in the woods behind our house. She has even spied through our fence into our terrace garden while we were relaxing on the patio. (We could see her beady little eyes.) She spreads rumors about the other neighbors medical conditions. She left me a nasty note about my "garbage truck" when we parked our 1978 Datsun in our space closest to her townhouse.

I try to ignore her, but last week we had words. She left me a note about landscaping and I called her back and she went on a rant and accused me of lying and fibbing and destroying plants in the woods.

She's fucking insane. I think that I shall walk in the woods behind her townhouse everyday just for spite. I know she'll be watching.
:grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr: :grr:

[Left Is Write]

31. There was a neighbor like that when I was growing up.

Almost all the families on the block were the stereotypical family with dad at work, mom at home, and some kids. One of these moms was so nosy, she probably gave Mrs. Kravitz herself lessons!

I don't know that anybody ever did anything about her. She was, is, and probably always will be nosy and gossipy. And she was obvious about it too. She and my mother were never particular friends, but she ALWAYS showed up on my mother's doorstep the minute she thought Mom might know something juicy.

My mother never shared gossip with THAT one.

[yardwork]

32. We had a neighbor like this

He used to walk around the neighborhood spying on everybody and complaining about "broken rules" to anybody who would listen. One of the saddest facts of his life was that our neighborhood has no home-owners association, therefore no rules!

He'd tell me all about the people who had clotheslines in their backyards, fences too large, recycling bins full of empty wine bottles, etc. etc. and moan about how these things "should be against the rules" except that we had no rules against them.

He finally moved to a planned retirement community in another state. I'm sure his new neighbors love him. :eyeroll: