Similar to Reddit's "Am I The Asshole" threads, today we have a woman who simply wants to know IF she would be an asshole for what she is about to do. I'll let you be the judge...
The story comes from a 33-year-old woman who lives in an apartment complex and works from home. "Several months back we had a family move in across the hall with a little girl around two or three years old. They moved in over the course of two weeknights, so there was a lot of banging and shout-talking in the halls at night. Not a good first impression for both myself and my roommate," Reddit u/TeHNyboR explains in the thread.
"Over the months they’ve been here, their little one has proven to be extremely vocal. While working she will often scream bloody murder at the top of her lungs, loud enough that it feels like she’s standing directly in my apartment. I’ve had people on calls with me ask who is screeching in the background. I have to apologize and state that it’s my neighbor's child. Even at night, I will hear her screaming all the way in my bedroom, which is the farthest room in my apartment from the front door," said u/TeHNyboR making it clear that the noise is always an "I'm having fun" or "I'm having a tantrum" scream and nothing alarming.
"There are some days where it’s near-constant. I will be doing laundry on the bottom floor (we are on the top floor) and I can hear her all the way on the first floor just yelling and screaming clear as day," she added.
u/TeHNyboR has already called and complained about the noise to the apartment office and knows multiple other neighbors who have complained, too.
However, she has now been pushed over the edge. She explained, "Yesterday I had called in with a bad migraine and, even in my room with the door closed, I could hear her going full air raid siren. It lasted until 10 p.m. and made my blood boil. It doesn’t even sound like her parents try to get her to calm down."
"I’ve spoken to my friends with kids about this and they’ve told me to just 'keep it moving' because parenting is hard. I am an aunt to two spectacular kids so I get it, but I don’t think I should have to deal with an out-of-control toddler who screams all day and night. They already have two violations for excessive noise and I believe one more could get them evicted. While the noise is definitely an issue they have been warned about multiple times by management and interferes with both my work and downtime, I can't help but feel immensely guilty knowing I may get a little girl and her family evicted... But, even as I write this post, she is banshee shrieking and has been on and off for close to a half hour..."
"...So, Would I be an asshole if I filed another noise complaint, even though it may result in a family getting evicted?"
Very logical perspectives came in about u/TeHNyboR not being an asshole if she complained...
"Clearly you are not the only person who feels this way, as they have other noise complaints against them. If they have received those complaints and still done nothing to change the situation, then they only have themselves to blame. I get that parenting can be extremely difficult and there may be issues that they are struggling to solve with their daughter, but in that case, they need to find somewhere to live where they aren’t causing all their neighbors problems. Maybe apartment living is not for them. You’re definitely not the asshole here."
"I get it, having and raising kids is not easy. And younger ones throw tantrums, it's part of life. But for it to be constant and intruding on everyone else's quiet enjoyment of their living space is not okay."
"Not an asshole. You're entitled to a reasonable noise level. Yes, you can expect some noise from kids and pets but you shouldn't have to hear screaming all day and the parents should do their damn job. Yes, the parents have their needs but so do you."
—Anonymous
"You aren't in a tough spot here: your landlord is. They can choose to speak to the tenants (or evict them) or you can not renew your lease. Don't take that burden on yourself. Just inform your landlord and make your own decisions accordingly."
"Not the asshole. It’s not impossible to get a toddler to stop throwing tantrums. The parents clearly have no regard for their neighbors. No reason for you to feel bad."
So, there you go! Consensus as suspected and right in this case.
