From playing loud music to double parking, 8 annoying things that neighbours always do

You should love your neighbours. That’s human decency 101. Then Jesus went on to add that you should love your neighbours as you love yourself. And that’s where it gets a bit- confusing.

You love yourself so much that it borders on megalomania. If you could rule the world, you’d probably be doing it already. The self-centredness you inherently have in you leads to you to forget that you share the same air and space as other people. And that lack of consideration for your fellow man can lead to behaviour that could inspire homicide.

Your neighbours are essential. They are the ones who help prevent break-ins with their nosiness, they will find out for you if your house help is stealing from you, they help you with chargers when you left yours at work and will give you a packet of sugar when you run out.

But other times your neighbour drives you up the wall with certain habits.

Here are 8 things your neighbours do that make you blazingly furious.

When they play their music too loud

It’s not even seven o’clock and you have that neighbour who has to let the whole estate know that they have a surround sound system.

And it’s not even good music or your kind of music. And the even more unforgivable thing is when they start singing along. Loudly. And off key.

When they are always absent

Sometimes things go wrong in a neighbour’s house. And it’s not their fault. Not really. The Chinese materials the constructers used is falling apart and water is leaking through your ceiling. The building manager is as absent as tax refunds and the neighbour is no help either because he is never around.

When they are parking hogs

There is always that neighbour who thinks of himself as yule msee. He will park his new second hand Toyota Raum on half his space and half another neighbour’s space. He will refuse to the watchman’s request that he should park appropriately.

When they are noisy

Usually this is a couple or a young family and all they export is noise. The wife is always yelling. The husband is always yelling back and at specific times of day there will be a baby adding to the cacophony.

When they are always home late

Some compounds don’t have an overnight watchman. In this case, every tenant has a main key to access the gate. But there is always that neighbour who gets home past midnight, blind drunk and can’t find his keys. He will scream and shout, rattling the gate until someone lets him in.

When they are just plain mean

There is always that vindictive neighbour who is mad at the world. Or they were cursed when they were children. That is that neighbour who loves upstairs and throws dirty water out the balcony on people’s cars. This is that neighbour who will put their clothes out dripping wet without asking you to remove your dry ones. Because reasons. This is that neighbour that will light up a jiko on the corridor or right under your clothing lines.

When they are gossips

They huddle in groups right at the gate or next to someone’s car or at the shop. They always go quiet when a tenant or guest walks into the compound and shamelessly observe until she enters a house. Then they will start spewing all sorts of nonsense. They are even worse than the “forwarded as received* social media users who use these messages to say you will only be blessed if you like the miracles message.

When they have pets

Pets are cute. They make people happy. But they make neighbours angry. Especially if the pet is a puppy. Those things can bark and whine for an entire day. They never stop. And when they do, you end up dropping something that gets them excited and barking again.