In kindergarten, you learn that you can't have something just because you want it. Like when you wanted Stewart's red ball, but he refused to share, after taking it anyways and subsequently refusing to apologize, you probably found yourself in timeout in a tiny chair in the corner as negative reinforcement of the fact that you shouldn't take things that aren't yours… Wherever you are now, we hope you're doing well, and we hope that Stewart is no longer having to fend off bullies who want to tak…

Your neighbors can look out for you, but only if you actually get to know them. If you're the neighborhood's cranky dude who just wants to keep to himself, that's fine, but you can't expect your neighbors to have your back if you don't have theirs. Some places, neighbors grow so close that they're almost family. It's a great feeling to be surrounded by friends, and they can watch your pets and water your plants while you're on vacation. You might even start a cycle of borrowing a cup of sugar a…

The only thing worse than a conflict with a Karen or a conflict with an HOA is a conflict with both at once.

It's very easy to be a decent neighbor, so why do so many people mess it up?

If there was ever a perfect example of “cutting off one's nose to spite one's face,”—this is it, with this neighbor pursuing a need for vengeance to the point where the only thing they assured was their own downfall. It's like poetry; it rhymes. This construction superintendent found himself facing the wrath of a Karen neighbor at the worksite that they were overseeing. The neighbor was determined to hamper their construction progress by filing illogical complaints with the city inspector. Not…

Neighborhood disputes have been raging over boundary lines for eons and over parking disputes for at least several generations, but recent advancements in technology, making cameras readily available for lower prices, have given us a new thing to feud over. We're decidedly on the fence on this one. While HOAs and their Karen board members can be insufferable and become one of the final bosses of suburban life—let's go back and take a look at the start of this issue. The neighbor didn't want a c…

Here's a friendly reminder to always be sure you're right before starting a feud with your neighbor.

Just a pro tip for those of you looking to enjoy the comfort of an outdoor fire this summer… If there's already a nearby forest fire raging, throwing out enough smoke to choke your entire region of the country... just don't. Don't do it. Find something—anything—else to do instead, just as long as it doesn't involve starting a non-metaphorical fire in a literal tinderbox. With large swathes of North America being drowned in the smoke of forest fires every summer in recent memory, it would just b…

It's all well and good to want things to be fair. After all, things being unfair—well… isn't fair. But, if you demand fairness, you'd better be well and truly sure that you actually deserve more than you're already getting. Otherwise, you might very well end up with less. Conflict emerged when this neighbor's kid demanded that he receive "half the money" from a bake sale when he decided he was bored and wanted to go home early. He wasn't even willing to stay the full duration and put in the wor…

If you can't beat ‘em… join ‘em—with as raucous of a racket as you can possibly manage. That’s what these property owners decided to do when faced with ridiculously restrictive rulings of their HOA.

At what point will HOA members freely admit that they solely exist to cause trouble that didn’t need to exist?

Nobody likes an unreasonably noisy neighbor. Renters with thin walls and even thinner patience have struggled for millennia against inconsiderate neighbors and there's a point that they start to think that the neighborhood is simply improved with the surgical removal of disruptive folks. One grad student spent one too many sleepless nights with rage in his heart that he finally took (semi unethical) action against his neighbor...

Having immature neighbors who engage in petty games of warfare or who otherwise just don't care about how their actions are affecting other people is the worst… and you know things are bad when a newborn baby isn't the most immature participant in the dispute. This neighbor refused to heed reason and repeatedly blocked their new parent neighbors in their own driveway, meaning the parents had to miss multiple appointments for their newborn, as they could not leave their home. After pleading with…

Feuds between neighbors have nothing but losers—the sanctity of existence being continually besmirched by your arch-nemeses constant and continuous close proximity. The persistent presence of something so infuriating is enough to drive even the most level-headed people to insanely petty lengths, which is probably why there is no shortage of stories online where bad neighbors have driven each other to the bitter ends of sanity. Apartments can be especially bad for this; with so many people cramm…

Disruptive, rude, trashy, and entitled neighbors can make the serenity of time at home into a living nightmare—especially when they're literally throwing their trash over the fence into your yard. Unfortunately, there's not often a whole lot you can do to rid yourself of this behavior—unless they're blatantly breaking laws or covenants. But if you actually had the means to buy your peace and serenity back… would you? As the original poster of this thread asks: What price would you put on peace…

Lawns are often a great attraction and target for entitled neighbors. It's almost like they have a magnetic pull, resulting in an obsessive fixation—one single blade of grass overgrown or out of place sending the neighbor over the edge. But let's be real, living close to people can be maddening—being that they're a constant presence in your everyday life that you had no choice or control over. We can choose our partner, our friends—even whether or not we want to see certain family members—but n…