I usually don't comment on current events (unless it's something like the newest sandwich at McDonald's), but this one really struck a nerve with me.
     I live in a typical suburban neighborhood (even though we're not really a suburb of anything), which means I live in a subdivision that has as many houses in it as the developer could cram on to the land. We're right up against our immediate neighbors, and even our unimmediate (is that a word?) ones aren't that far away. We have a punk kid who lives near us who has lots of punk friends and they like to hang out in their cars for hours on end, engines idling and bass pumping. This can take place at any hour of the day - 2AM, 6AM, 12PM...when does this kid sleep? It's incredibly annoying and disrupts our sleep quite regularly, because even the idling in their souped up "Fast and Furious" cars is pretty loud. Our next door neighbors have little yippy dogs and if we so much as go outside to take out the trash, we get barked at like we're trying to attack our neighbors with a chainsaw. If we're in our backyard, they'll pretty much stand by the fence and bark at us with their ear-piercing, tiny-dog barks the whole time unless one of our neighbors tells them to get in the house (which if the wife isn't home probably won't happen at all.) The neighbors behind us seem to think their yard is protected by an invisible sound-proof shield. When they go out there, they talk to each other in really loud voices (even though they're right next to each other.) A couple of weeks ago, we were trying to enjoy a peaceful afternoon in our pool. The dad came outside, saw that something he had told his daughter to do was not done, and launched into a loud, profanity-filled tirade that would have made Alec Baldwin blush. It's gotten to the point where I will not go out in the backyard if I see our neighbors are already out there (which, since they got their pool last year, is almost constantly this time of year.) The woman, who has no tolerance for our neighbors' barking dogs, will stand out in the yard and yell at the top of her lungs at her dog (equally annoying if you ask me), waiting for the dog to understand English and obey her every command. When they're in the pool, they're not just in the pool, they're in and out of the pool, each time entering with a big splash and yelling excitedly to each other. Earlier this week I wanted to enjoy the sunshine, so I took a book outside (actually, I was going to do my daily devotions), but had to abandon that whole plan when I opened my door and heard their music blaring at full volume from the backyard. I had to close myself up in a room in the middle of my house not to be distracted by it. We rarely get to enjoy our yard. When I tell people we want to move because of the noise, the new road across from the house is a big part, but our neighbors definitely contribute. That's why the people I read about this morning are my new heroes.
    This story involves another backyard neighbor and a pool. You can view the story here, but the gist is that there are two girls who spend every day of their summer vacation in their backyard pool, splashing and squealing the entire time. The neighbors behind them have built a wall and even installed a waterfall to mask the noise to no avail.  They complained to the neighbors whose defense is that children are children, they make noise when they play, and the neighbors are going to have to deal with it. So the neighbors sued them! I love it! I should also add that many of the other neighbors had complained too (getting the same response), and one even recorded the sounds from her backyard for proof (believe me, this wasn't just kids playing, this was excessive, obnoxious noise.) Unfortunately, the case was thrown out, with the completely unapologetic dad saying that, "We will try to keep them quieter." Yeah, I can tell you what he'll tell the kids, "Try to keep it down out there or the stupid neighbors will haul us in to court again." Every time I heard one of those parents say, "Kids are kids" I wanted to reach through the screen and choke them. Yes, kids are kids. They put things in their mouths without worrying about what it is or where it's been, they mimic everything they see without a thought of common sense, they feel invincible so they do stupid things with no regard for their own personal safety, they don't want to eat anything but sweets and junk food. Kids are kids, that's why there are parents!
     I hesitate to say anything regarding parenting, because the minute I do parents will get all defensive saying, "She doesn't have kids. What does she know?" Well, I may not be a parent, but I'm the child of two, and we were always taught to respect the fact that we have neighbors and they had as much right to quiet in their yards as we had the right to play in ours. If we had our music too loud or were making excessive noise, we heard about it (from our parents.) By the time we were old enough to stay home alone (as it sounds like the girls in the story might), we didn't need our parents there to keep us in line, we knew what to do. I might add that even though the couple that sued was childless, many of the other neighbors who complained were parents who said that they were all for the sound of happy children, but this was over the top. Clearly, the father of these girls expects the neighborhood to respect his children's' right to make noise, but it's not even going to cross his mind to teach his children to respect the rights of their neighbors. Even if he does do what he said and legitimately encourages his daughters to be quieter, his previous actions and the comments he's made show that he clearly doesn't see anything wrong with the behavior, which is most likely what his daughters will take from this experience. (His quote: "What, are you telling me that a kid can't make noise? It's not fair." Yeah, that's what this is about. Even though the neighborhood has other children, the fact that yours are the only ones who have been complained about and summoned to court means nothing. Don't think for a second that your precious angels might actually need to have their behavior corrected, clearly all your neighbors are unreasonable.)
     I have a neighbor that washes his car once a week or so with his Latin music blaring the whole time. You know what? He works hard to pay his mortgage and it isn't an everyday thing, so I don't let it bother me. We have kids that bike up and down the cul-de-sac often, calling to each other and playing audibly. I'm fine with that too. I'm not anti-noise by any means. Life makes noise! However, if the argument is that dealing with noise is part of living in a tight neighborhood, shouldn't the reverse be true? If I have to accept that living where I do means that I will be subjected to your activities, then shouldn't you have to accept that living where you do means that you may not be able to be as raucous as you might like or as loud as you could be if you were out in the country somewhere? Since when does your right to make noise trump my right to peace? Don't give up the fight.