by Francis Jock

Created on: August 09, 2008   Last Updated: May 02, 2012

It doesn't matter where you live, in an apartment, condominium, or your own castle, you have neighbors. Neighbors come in all shapes, colors, and sizes. They also come fully equipped with neighbor-etiquette, a form of behavior that can be wonderful or obnoxious, depending upon their temperament. We should all be blessed with good neighbors, quiet, respectful and courteous. However, it is far more likely that, in our ever-shrinking world, we sometimes have to live next to a neighbor from that legendary perpetually hot place. If you have a noisy neighbor and perhaps seems a bit temperamental at times, then you are experiencing a glaring absence of neighbor-etiquette. In other words, they just make too much noise when you want quiet!

Learning to live in close proximity to others and maintaining a peaceful neighborhood can take a fair amount of public relations skill and effort. Sometimes, your neighbor's noise disrupts the peace and quiet of that weekend morning when you were so looking forward to sleeping in. Now, you have a headache and you're mad as hell at that inconsiderate lout! However, before losing your temper any further, casting aspersions upon the size of his mother's boots and storming around the house feeling helpless about the situation, you could try to understand the reasons for the neighbor's noise.

First, many young people are prone to celebrate their youthful invulnerability through uncontrolled indulgence in alcohol and drugs. Secondly, homeowners are always pressed for enough time to get everything done that needs to be done. The weekend honey-do list is sure to include lawn maintenance, tree and hedge trimming, not to forget leaf and snow blowing. For homeowners, weekend construction or renovation projects, lawn mowing, loud radios or music, or the outrageous conduct of hardcore party-goers are a few more reasons why neighbors get noisy.

Obviously, those folks have given little thought to the impact of their activities on their neighbors or even the surrounding block. If you approach them with angry overtones, they may deny or resist your objections to their noise making. They may become obnoxious and tempers could flare if they feel threatened by your overtures. This is a situation to avoid if you wish to have any peace in the neighborhood any time soon.

One way to begin to resolve this problem is to have courage and bring it to your neighbor's attention in a respectful manner. They may not be aware that their activities were intruding upon

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>