One of the things that sucks a lot in this life is dealing with entitled people. Not only because they tend to act rather nonsensically, but they also do not see any fault in their words and actions. In fact, they fully believe that you’re the villain.
Just like in today’s story, where a woman moved into a new house that came not only with a nice backyard, but with an entitled neighbor, too. So, it didn’t take long for this woman to get called “unneighborly” among other accusations.
More info: Reddit
One of the most difficult social situations most of us find ourselves in is dealing with entitled people
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
In this story, the insufferable entitled person was a mom who believed everyone should bend over backward for her kids
Image credits: EyeEm / Freepik (not the actual photo)
To be more specific, she believed that her kids were entitled to cross their neighbor’s backyard, just because it was convenient for them
Image credits: katemangostar / Freepik (not the actual photo)
The thing was that the neighbor hated random kids in her yard, so she asked the mom to stop them
Image credits: edcantu9
But the mom went on about how the neighbor was slowing their development by cutting their outside time short
Around six months ago, the OP bought her first house. It has a nice, fenced-in backyard. The thing about the backyard is that it happens to back up to a local wooded trail that leads to a popular park. Basically, it’s a neighborhood shortcut.
There’s also this neighbor called Linda, who has three kids under 10 and who likes to use this shortcut. Needless to say, the original poster didn’t like some random children just strolling around her place, so she asked Linda to stop her kids from doing that.
Yet, instead of being understanding, this neighbor went on about how it’s much more convenient for them to cross her backyard, how the previous owners used to let them do that, and stuff like that. And so, the kids kept trying to keep their path, which angered the author.
And Linda was infuriated that the OP was angry at her precious younglings. She went off at her about how she was being “unneighborly,” “hostile toward children,” and even said that she was “stunting their development” by “robbing them of outdoor time.”
On one hand, this mom is kind of right – kids need outdoor time for their development. As research shows, playing outside can lower obesity rates, reduce nearsightedness risk, and get them more vitamin D, which is essential for health. Besides, it also makes them more engaged in learning, promoting curiosity, creativity, and improving mood and emotional regulation. So, a whole bouquet of benefits.
Image credits: freepik / Freepik (not the actual photo)
But the thing is that in this case, the fight wasn’t really about the children’s development. While Linda made it seem like the kids couldn’t spend time outside if they could not cross the OP’s yard, it wasn’t really the case. It was all about their convenience and ignoring the original poster’s boundaries.
Essentially, it was about being neighborly to each other. On a theoretical level, this term includes being friendly with people living nearby, sometimes slightly sacrificing your comfort to support them. But it also shouldn’t be forgotten that boundaries should still exist.
In this case, the woman is very uncomfortable with being liable for kids walking around in her yard. Plus, she doesn’t feel that out of spite – she has a dog that might harm them in the worst-case scenario.
Not to mention the point of simple privacy. It’s not like privacy is a random whim – in fact, it’s recognized as a human right. We already live in a society where it’s basically impossible to be totally private in public. So, at least in the comfort of their own home, backyard included, a person should feel comfortable, right? And if you’re worrying about random kids trespassing and being harmed by your dog, the comfort is diminished, isn’t it?
That’s why the woman said that if the kids put one foot in her yard, she’ll call the police. People online thought that her reaction was totally justified here. Why should the woman sacrifice her own comfort for the convenience of some random kids, who aren’t even that inconvenienced in the first place? It’s not like they have to go for kilometers if they don’t cross her yard…
Do you agree with this stance? Or is your view on this whole situation different? Please share all of it in the comments!
Both the woman and netizens found this argument nonsensical, and they agreed that calling the police for trespassing is the right move here
