I had a neighbor I don’t know come to my door last night at 9:30 pm to accuse me of making noise. I was not making noise, I didn’t even have the TV on. I also didn’t open the door. He knocked persistently and wouldn’t go away, so I asked him what he wanted.
“Are you hammering?” Though phrased as a question, it was an accusation. Angry. He was certain he knew the answer.
I said no.
“Are you sure? I live directly below you.” Impatient now, and still fuming.
I said yes I was sure.
“Are you hitting an object against another object?” he said, his tone condescendingly contained rage, implying I was either too stupid to understand “hammering” or being deliberately cagey.
“No,” I said.
“You’re sure you’re not hammering?” And around again. I’m not sure how long it went on, how many times he asked me the same question.
“It’s not me,” I said and finally he went away.
But I was shaken, if I’m being honest. It was very late, and who just knocks on people’s doors like that? And I suspect, had I opened the door, he would have forced his way in to prove that I was, in fact, hammering.
Which I was not.
I complained to the building, and I’ll follow up if I hear nothing, I am still disturbed. When I did contact the building, I discovered he hadn’t even called about the noise, just took it upon himself to ragefully park himself outside of my door.
Today I am largely angry, angry he felt entitled to knock at a stranger’s door at 9:30 at night, angry he felt entitled to interrogate me, angry he felt entitled to keep knocking when no one answered.
I wasn’t sure if I was going to share this story here, but why not? I did nothing wrong, I was merely existing.
Anyway, that’s it for me on this Friday. Have a good one, and a great weekend.
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