How is it possible that I end up living above an NU grad student and self-important homeowners' association boardman/jerk who thinks that appliances running after 9 pm is an unreasonable amount of noise? Can I not escape NU douches? Will I forever be hounded?
Anyway, the good news is that I found his Facebook page* (really, everyone should make their pages friends-only), and he's actually all of four years my senior, loves fishing and Tom Petty, and likes to point out on his resume that he is a natural-born American citizen. He must also like Lou Dobbs.
At any rate, I've got a serious nasty neighbor problem on my hands. This guy and his fiancee have complained to the condo board, our neighbors, and our landlords about the noise coming from our apartment. ((You know, all that barefooted walking we do at crazy hours, like 10 PM.))
Since they've taken issue with us by contacting everyone BUT us, we're in the strange situation where the following are options, and I'd love some input. How do you handle the nasty neighbor?
1) We ignore their passive-aggressive nastiness. Ridiculous accusations of loudness, launched through unsuspecting third parties, do not warrant a response. If something is really up, knock on our door. You know where we live.
2.) We go downstairs and knock on their door, formally introduce ourselves (we've never seen them before--unless you count the one time I was struggling to open our front door when I was moving in, and I saw someone in that apartment watch me and then shut their door without helping), and then ask politely, and more specifically, what noises have bothered them and when. We have a feeling that they're hearing noise that isn't us, and assuming it is coming from our apartment. So, we'll just talk it out.
3.) We go downstairs and knock on their door, but this time, I wear a fake prosthetic leg and we apologize profusely for whatever harm I've caused them.
Suggestions?
*I would link to it, but it turns out we have some mutual friends. If you're curious in looking over his profile, please let me know and I'll send it your way.
