It began on a quiet Sunday afternoon, our son was on his usual rounds of taking a few steps them plopping heavily on his butt after he lost his balance and all of a sudden we heard a loud "thump, thump, thump" coming from downstairs. I actually felt the thump because I was sitting on the floor playing with him. I was a bit confused but I put away a heavy toy that our son was playing with and gave him some softer toys. After hearing (and feeling) the thump twice more I asked my husband to go downstairs and see what the problem was. Our neighbor complained of running and loud crashing sounds. At first we were concerned and tried to keep it quiet but there is no way to control a baby who is just learning how to walk. We did as much as we could to keep quiet (or so I thought) we got a rug and play mat, we made sure he played quietly in the living room in the morning and we took walks on the weekends or went out when we knew our grumpy neighbor would be home to complain but as soon as we'd get back from our long walk we would hear an obnoxious thump again.I've lived in every borough of New York City and know about loud neighbors. In one apartment I had neighbors that played music loudly on Sundays at ten am when I was recovering from the late night out before, in one apartment I could smell cigarette smoke when I woke up in the morning, in another I smelled pancakes in the morning and heard feet getting ready for school and work and in another I heard a couple get into raging arguments and throw each others things out the windows at two am. The point is that when you live in a city, in a building, with other people around you are going to hear, and even smell things that have nothing to do with you. They may annoy you but that is what comes with the territory and you have to learn to live with it. Of course, there were some days that I screamed "smoke outside!" or got my broom when I couldn't handle the noise but most of the time you just had to deal. I had to learn the common courtesy rules like everyone else.
Monday night I had my music on in the living room while cooking in the kitchen. It was a bit loud but no one was home just yet at six and I was moving and shaking while making my meatballs. I heard my neighbor come home and a few minutes later I turned my music down. All of a sudden I felt vibrations and when I walked into the living room the whole room was shaking. Our monster had a bad day at work and was retaliating tenfold. I turned my music off and let it go but when my husband got home I complained. He said to just let it slide but when it went on through the time I was putting my son to bed I hit my boiling point. I went downstairs, knocked on the door, and let him have it. We have tried our best to accommodate this guy, even brought him a peacemaking treat and still he was a stubborn little monster (I used more choice words). My husband came down to diffuse the argument. We left it at having a conversation with the landlord about putting carpeting down but until then I am putting on my tap shoes at six pm when I hear him come in and inviting my three nephews over for a play date every Sunday at five pm. Who wants to play ball?
: P
