Nosy neighbors

[Anonymous]

I have two vehicles. I alternate every couple weeks just to even out the mileage, keep the battery charged, etc. My neighbor asked me if one of the vehicles was broken because I hadn't been driving it lately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What behaviors or activities do you put under category of a neighbor being a busy body or nosy?

No examples bc there are too many...but I live on a bend where all the neighbors are busybodies. I now keep my curtains drawn shut that peer out the front and try to quickly get into and out of my car when exiting.

I had no idea people were so annoying in the burbs. When you live in apartments or high rises you don't deal with the busy bodies in this manner. Everyone keeps to themselves for the most part.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have two vehicles. I alternate every couple weeks just to even out the mileage, keep the battery charged, etc. My neighbor asked me if one of the vehicles was broken because I hadn't been driving it lately.

+1, this type of stuff. It's so annoying and the annoying ones are all doing it. I say do something productive with your life!!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically someone who seems to know by heart what time you leave for work as well as what time you return.

Also one who can describe fully all your visitors too.

The real question for me is WHY some people are like this. I just can't imagine having so little going on in my own life that I would sit around watching my neighbor's every move.

I live in a condo building and our upstairs neighbors are like this. And no they aren't empty nester retirees where you could chalk it up to boredom or loneliness. They are a married couple in their 30s with full time jobs. But they WFH (so do many people in the building) and clearly spend a lot of their time watching neighbors and cataloguing our every move. It's creepy. I think they believe "info is power" or something because they will often discuss their extensive observations at community meetings (which is how we all know they do this) like it's some kind of gotcha.

But the stuff they observe is always normal things that no one is bothered by. Once they announced that they'd been keeping track of everyone coming in and out of the front gate (it's a low iron gate between the building front steps and the sidewalk, more of a visual barrier than a security device) and noting who had been not fully latching the gate, because they felt this posed a security risk. Like literally they were watching from their windows every morning and making a note like "2B fails to fully engage latch" every time someone left the building. It was funny when they presented this info in a meeting because I think they expected everyone to respond with gratitude for their efforts in rooting out which of our neighbors are more lax about latching the gate but instead every single person in the building was united in thinking this was creepy AF and they were asked to please stop tracking this behavior.

People have also caught them trying to eavesdrop outside people's apartment doors in the hallway or taking photographs in the parking area (but no one knows of what -- we don't have any parking-related issues that they've raised or that anyone can think of).

It's really weird and I definitely sometimes feel like I'm being watched around the building because they are in such close proximity to us. Their unit is right above ours and they can see our entrance from theirs because they are either end of the last flight of stairs. Their balcony is right above ours and DH and I have taken to never having conversations on our balcony because I think they listen in.

I think it must be a control thing. It's really unfortunate because we've had fantastic luck with neighbors in our building otherwise. I wish they'd move.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What behaviors or activities do you put under category of a neighbor being a busy body or nosy?

No examples bc there are too many...but I live on a bend where all the neighbors are busybodies. I now keep my curtains drawn shut that peer out the front and try to quickly get into and out of my car when exiting.

I had no idea people were so annoying in the burbs. When you live in apartments or high rises you don't deal with the busy bodies in this manner. Everyone keeps to themselves for the most part.

omg yes.

[Anonymous]

Most of these examples are small talk or trying to be helpful, not nosy.
I mean asking your neighbors if they’re going on a trip when you see them packing the car? That’s completely normal conversation.
Showing up when an ambulance comes? I would make sure my neighbors didn’t need childcare in this situation.

[Anonymous]

Someone posted here a few years back that when she would take her walks on trash pick-up day, she'd peek in her neighbors' recycling bins to see if anyone had a drinking problem.

I guess these means she also kept track of how many guests someone had, if any, to determine what might have been an acceptable amount of bottles and cans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Someone posted here a few years back that when she would take her walks on trash pick-up day, she'd peek in her neighbors' recycling bins to see if anyone had a drinking problem.

I guess these means she also kept track of how many guests someone had, if any, to determine what might have been an acceptable amount of bottles and cans.

Arlington won't recycle glass, so spying on the recycling wouldn't work there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of these examples are small talk or trying to be helpful, not nosy.
I mean asking your neighbors if they’re going on a trip when you see them packing the car? That’s completely normal conversation.
Showing up when an ambulance comes? I would make sure my neighbors didn’t need childcare in this situation.

We've found the nosy neighbor. If you're that close with them you text them asking if they need help. You do not show up. You don't have their cell phone #? You're not close enough that they would need your help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Basically someone who seems to know by heart what time you leave for work as well as what time you return.

Also one who can describe fully all your visitors too.

I know exactly when my across the street neighbor leaves in the morning because I can hear his car start every morning around 6-6:05am. Blinds are shut but I hear it every morning. It's an extremely loud engine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Most of these examples are small talk or trying to be helpful, not nosy.
I mean asking your neighbors if they’re going on a trip when you see them packing the car? That’s completely normal conversation.
Showing up when an ambulance comes? I would make sure my neighbors didn’t need childcare in this situation.

Even if they are childless, petless, plantless, yardless etc..? -DP

[Anonymous]

Luckily for us, we live on an estate with acerage, and we do not hsve typical "neighbors."

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically someone who seems to know by heart what time you leave for work as well as what time you return.

Also one who can describe fully all your visitors too.

I know exactly when my across the street neighbor leaves in the morning because I can hear his car start every morning around 6-6:05am. Blinds are shut but I hear it every morning. It's an extremely loud engine.

It's annoying perhaps but that doesn't make you nosy, does it? Unless that neighbor was having car issues and you went over to ask to help which could be seen as nosy if they didn't ask for your help.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Basically someone who seems to know by heart what time you leave for work as well as what time you return.

Also one who can describe fully all your visitors too.

I know exactly when my across the street neighbor leaves in the morning because I can hear his car start every morning around 6-6:05am. Blinds are shut but I hear it every morning. It's an extremely loud engine.

It's annoying perhaps but that doesn't make you nosy, does it? Unless that neighbor was having car issues and you went over to ask to help which could be seen as nosy if they didn't ask for your help.

Hi, neighbor! I noticed that you are getting a little knocking when you start your engine in the morning. Did you switch to lower octane gas because you didn't get that big raise?

[Anonymous]

Neighbor driving by just as you are going to work, taking kids to school, leaving for somewhere and them showing up by your garage/driveway/where you park your car. Very sus.