The Conical Glass: Feud in the hall

Saturday, November 18, 2006

Feud in the hall

Moving on from today's painful loss...

When I took the dog out this morning, I noticed there was a sign taped to the door of a neighboring apartment. It said, "Please stop making NOISE at night (expecially at midnight)," and was illustrated with a frowny face.

Now, there are only three apartments in this section of the floor: ours, which is at the end of the hall, and two which have doors facing one another. I think it's safe to assume that whoever put the sign on the door is the across-the-hall neighbor.

This was a curiously passive-aggressive move. Why not just knock on the door and ask the neighbor to quiet down, or mention it when you pass in the hall? It's not like you're going to be able to keep your identity a secret in this situation.

Also, why post the sign on the door instead of sliding it under the door? And did the sign-maker post it on his or her own door, so everyone would be able to see it, or did he or she put it on the alleged noisemaker's door? I must admit I have never heard any noise from either of those apartments, so I don't know which one is the complainee and which is the complainer.

Anyway, when I took the dog out for his afternoon walk, the sign had been corrected in red pen:

For some reason, people in this building just love to communicate via handwritten sign. We had "no running in the hall" posted a few months ago, and then there was the curious "don't let your dog pee in the elevator" one, which made me wonder how the sign-maker knew the mess had been left by a dog, as opposed to, say, a drunk college student. It's enough to make me wish I lived in a cabin deep in the woods, where the neighbors are sufficiently far away that they'd have to send their snippy little messages via carrier pigeon.

posted by 125records @ 4:54 PM

7 Comments:

At 11:52 PM, 2fs said…

If you did live in a cabin deep in the woods, could you maybe find a few minutes to free Molly?
At 9:47 AM, flasshe said…

Man, I miss so much living in a house instead of an apartment or condo!

xvnlt! xvnlt!
At 1:14 PM, editrix said…

These edits are awesome!

I admit that I've considered leaving a note on our upstairs neighbors' door when they're playing the stereo loud at night, but I'm always afraid it will lead to even more inconsiderate behavior -- so I end up ringing their doorbell and being totally bitchy f2f. I think I'd be more patient-sounding in a note. . . .
At 1:16 PM, 125records said…

Update: someone cut off the text portion of the note, leaving only the frowny face.
At 7:48 PM, Cult of James said…

I think the frowny face is the best part of the message anyway. That should really motivate some serious behavioral changes.
At 6:19 PM, yellojkt said…

I have NO problems telling my neighbors to keep it down. They don't mind.
At 12:10 PM, Paula said…

What bothers me about note-leaving is that a) it's cowardly and b) it's ineffective. I especially groan when I see these melodramatic signs on the refrigerator at work, "Someone took my Diet Coke. Please refrain from taking things that aren't yours. We all work hard for our money, and..." Blah blah blah.