agonyaunt | (no subject)

DEAR ABBY: New neighbors moved into my apartment building about a month ago. I don't mind that sometimes I hear their kids. I don't mind that sometimes I hear the adults. BUT! Their alarm clock wakes me up every morning at 6 a.m. It's loud, and I'm guessing it's up against the adjoining wall.

Normally, I sleep until 8. I work from home, and I'm usually up until 1 a.m. or so. I'm a night owl, and I simply can't go to sleep any earlier.

It's impossible to sleep through their alarm. It has been weeks. I am afraid if I complain they will call me a racist since I am white, and they are black. But it's NOT a race thing; it's a sleep thing. What should I do? -- SLEEPLESS IN BALTIMORE

DEAR SLEEPLESS: Write a polite note to the new neighbors and introduce yourself. Explain the problem you are experiencing and ask if they can help you by either moving their alarm clock to a different part of their bedroom or adjusting the ring to make it softer. (It could be as simple as placing their clock on a soft surface like a towel.) If they are unwilling to cooperate, as a last resort try earplugs and talk to the building manager about the noise problem.

https://www.arcamax.com/healthandspirit/lifeadvice/dearabby/s-2469644

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I can sympathize with this letter writer. My previous upstairs neighbors moved their furniture daily while vacuuming and walked with steps heavy enough to make my windows rattle. They liked to hold long phone calls on their balcony at just the right volume for me to hear every word despite my closed windows. I'd hear random thuds from them at all hours. And I couldn't really say anything because people are allowed to clean and walk around and have conversations in their own homes. Reporting these things to my landlord would have just led to them seeing me as a controlling jerk. Sometimes you just have to put up with certain aggravations as part of apartment life.

As a lifelong apartment dweller, I was sympathetic to the letter writer right up until they took a turn into bizarre racism.

Yeah, that had no place in a "my neighbor is sometimes annoying" letter. It had no place anywhere.