Me Against The Music
First off, let me preface this with saying that the house next door is a rental. We share a driveway. My tolerance for the “new neighbors” who cycle through every 9-12 months is low. The current tenants consist of a group of twentysomething stoners. I know they are stoners because I used to be a stoner. I am not generalizing or stereotyping here. Just trust me, I know stoned when I see it.
Anyway, one of the guys who lives there (lets just call him Bryan) looooves his stereo. On most days, it doesn’t bother me to hear his Vampire Weekend/Tribe Called Quest/Jimi Hendrix playlist over and over again. I generally tune it out.
But on Sunday, the day I started getting a feeling that my car was acting up. The same day that Paige was having a meltdown cause I wouldn’t take her to Forever21 (or something like that). The same day I realized that my to do list was teetering like a tsunami ready to crash down on me. Well, let’s just say that his heavy metal play list was the straw that broke this momma’s back.
I tried. I really tried to deal. I closed my windows. I went to the other side of the house. But the fact that I could hear the lyrics while sitting in my house with the windows shut just chaffed me. Something in me snapped. I rushed over there only to find their door ajar …
KNOCK. KNOCK. KNOCK.
POUND. POUND. POUND.
Me: Hellooooo …
Me: HELLLOOOO … it’s your neighbor ….
Him: Dude, hold on, I can’t hear you, let me turn the stereo down.
Me: Could you keep your stereo down?
Him: Is it that loud?
Me: You just told me that you couldn’t hear me because the stereo is too loud. I can hear your music in my house and my windows are shut.
Him: Dude, I am sorry. Man, it’s just that I really, really hate doing dishes.
Me: What?
Him: I really hate doing dishes so I turn up the music really loud so the time goes faster.
Me: [snort.]
Him: Yeah, I really hate doing dishes.
Me: Dude, I totally hate doing the dishes as well and I don’t want to have to hate it when YOU do the dishes too.
Him: What?
Me: Just turn it down.
I was just telling my friend Cathy about how I had a meltdown with the neighbor over the music being to loud and she remarked that it was a sign of getting old.
This is what I mean that I have “no bullshit” kind of friends. Somehow this story about how I am having the worst week ever turned into how I am now being coming “old man crotchety pants” who can’t stand that “new fangled music” called rock and roll.
“TURN THAT RACKET DOWN!”
So I got to thinking, was I mad at the neighbor because the music was turned up too loud or was I mad at myself because I am turning into someone who can’t tolerate loud music? Did I really just reach another mid-thirty milestone?
Seriously, it was just a couple of years ago that I declared that staying in a hostel was totally off the table. Ever. And then there was that moment where I realized that most of my underwear (save for a few) were black or beige. “A sign of sensibility,” I’ve told myself. And then, out of nowhere, I started feeling like staying in was a much better option than going out. Oh God.
I ran this whole story by Paige just to verify her take on it and her response?
Paige: MOM! That is so embarrassing.
Me: I know, I shouldn’t have yelled at the neighbor.
Paige: Not THAT, I can’t believe you said “dude” back to him.
OBVIOUSLY I am getting old and crotchety.
This entry was posted on Thursday, August 13th, 2009 at 9:00 am and is filed under Daily. Both comments and pings are currently closed.
17 Responses to “Me Against The Music”
Shameless!
In the interest of full disclosure, please note that product links redirecting you to other sites such as Amazon
, BlueHost, Freshbooks and OpenSky may take you a purchase page of a company where I am a member of an affiliate program. As a result, I will often get a small percentage of the revenue or a commission off of something you have purchased. I am not otherwise paid to link to these sites, nor do I link to any products that I don't actually use or covet in real life. On the rare occasion I accept payment to review a product, it will be duly noted in its associated post.
Have no fear - you are under no obligation to buy anything to get the full enjoyment of this site. We can still be friends even if you never click on an affiliate link. Rest assured, this is all low pressure. I will never show up at your door with tiny vials of Avon perfume or trial jars of pearl cream to entice you. That said, I do truly appreciate when you do purchase something from a linked site - it all helps to keep the lights on and a roof over our heads.
And Powered By
And Kept Organized By
You crack me up!! You go girl or should I say DUDE.
I have to give you credit for actually going over
How funny! I’m old and crotchety, too. One day I actually got out of my car at a stoplight and asked the teenagers in the car in front of me not to throw trash out of their windows. Their response? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Ugh!
.-= Asianmommy´s last blog ..Telephone & Computer (Mandarin) =-.
It’s totally alright to not tolerate blaring music, right? We just had a year stuck with these awful girls next door who blared some of the worst music I’ve ever heard (I’m sorry, this “emo” thing doesn’t do it for me). I’m incredibly pleased that they’ve moved. In any case, I say it’s justified. You’ve been having a bout with bad luck, so it’s understandable to be less tolerant of their loud music. There, I justified it for you.
I had the same conversation with my upstairs neighbor at my last apartment. She did not seem to realize that her floor was my ceiling and as such, her ridiculously loud music at 4 am was my ridiculously loud music at 4 am. I think that is considered rude no matter what age you are. Either that or I was old and crotchety at 23.
.-= Dani´s last blog ..Little billy couldn’t look at his grandma the same way again… =-.
I’m 40. I’m old and crotchety. (Okay, not always, but it’s definitely there at times.) Somehow I take comfort in it. My poor husband and children probably don’t…
.-= hi kooky´s last blog ..Oh, the… humanity. =-.
It is totally okay to tell them to turn the music down. Some people wouldn’t show the courtesy you showed by actually going over there, instead of just immediately calling the cops.
And just remember — since last week was so crappy, this week is bound to be better. I believe that you can make it that way. You are capable of anything.
.-= Meghan´s last blog ..Smiles =-.
Haaaaaaaaaa! This kind of made my day.
.-= Jen L.´s last blog .."2 Weeks in DC" OR "A Barf Story" =-.
HIGH-larious! Dude, I say Dude all the time. My 5 year old told me to stop. How’s that for getting old?
Dear Giyen, I’m 25 and my fiancee and I just found out we are expecting our first baby. Does this mean I’m going to have to eventually relinquish control of the word “dude”? Please say no.
Yep, screamed at neighborhood kids after only the hundredeth time they deliberately let their yappy, snappy dog loose in our yard to take a dump.
I didn’t even get out of the car and the ill-mannered dogs was snapping at me in my own driveway. Then I found piles of poop. Still steaming. I tell kids in their yard they need to clean it up. Like now.
Teeny snot says I have no proof it was their dogs poo.
Went ballistic. Asked for mother. Not home. Luckily, she drives up in her Mercedes just as I’m about to give up. I bitch her ear out. She tells me (like it was fault) I should have brought it to her attention.
Yep, just like three other neighbors have already brought it to her attention?? Rant, rant, rant.
So I sound crazy don’t I. I seriously plot with my kids to put their dog’s shit on fire on their front porch. I have become the grumpy old lady and brought my kids down to their level as well. Sigh.
.-= Scout’s Honor´s last blog ..Driven: She Wants a Sister =-.
Dude, that totally rocks. Ha! I don’t think you’re TOO old yet. Now, if you left out the part about shaking your cane at the kids because they were on your lawn, well, then, I don’t know…
.-= The Casual Perfectionist´s last blog ..The only kink in the trip =-.
Haha, I totally feel like that sometimes!
We used to live in a rather rowdy neighbourhood and on more than one occasion I had to converse with the drunken fools making a raucous outside.
Made me feel rather old indeed!
.-= Desiree Fawn´s last blog ..Eco-Friendly Fawnings (And A Giveaway) =-.
Nah. Not old and crotchety. You’re just stressed. And the dude painted a bulls eye on himself. Give yourself a break!
.-= Nicki´s last blog ..The boy is becoming a man! =-.
I used to live in a ghetto-y area of upstate NY, and I got woken up at 2am by that “My Humps” song being played by a car four stories below on the street. It rattled my windows. I was pissed and 21. Everyone has a limit. Your limit was that guy playing Slayer or Naglefar at max volume.
Uh, seriously. At 25, I’m working toward ‘sensible’ underpants, and have felt staying in was better than going out since the beginning of time. Or at least mine.
Loud music? Maybe I’m not old, just a really freaky control freak. Because as much as I and my nearly born daughter Missy Elliott, the same song through the wall for six hours straight is enough to make anyone, even your stoner neighbors, crazy.
I might still be a stoner, but your oldness is up to you.
You had me laughing out loud! I’m so glad I found your blog…I’ll keep reading for sure!
.-= The Omnivert´s last blog ..Heartbreak and Breaking Points =-.