Man watches neighbors paint fence before telling them it's on 'his side' of property.
There is no drama more petty and unending than neighbor squabbles. While it might seem silly to have an opinion about the color of your neighbor's fence, or the music they play at night, these kinds of differences can grow into a special brand of tension. When the tension comes to a head, well, emotional chaos can ensue.
In a popular post on the AITA subreddit, a man asked if he was wrong for letting his neighbor finish painting the fence before informing them it's on his side of the property. He wrote:
"AITA for waiting until they were finished painting to tell the neighbors that the fence isn’t theirs to paint?"
We had new neighbors move in a while ago. Up until this point I had no issues with them. Young couple, no kids, large dog that barks no more or less than any other dog. About a week ago they started painting the fence between our properties. I happen to know the fence is on MY property so they had no right to paint it.
I went back and forth on whether I should say or do anything. At first I thought maybe it wasn’t such a big deal. They were only painting the side facing their lot. However as it turned out they were doing that in preparation for painting their house PINK. The rest of the houses in this neighborhood are regular house colors. Grey. white. Tan. It looks god awful.
This just didn’t sit well with me so I went over and told them that the fence they painted is actually MY fence on MY property. They were slack-jawed and mumbled “ok” and so I said you’re going to fix it, right? They said they “didn’t know how” and asked if it was “really that big a deal.” I told them fine, why not just let me come onto THEIR property and mess around with THEIR things?
Then they asked me why I didn’t say something before they were finished and I told them that it isn’t my job to do their research for them. That they should have known better when they got the land survey done at inspection. They said they “waived inspection” which again, it’s not my fault.
They asked how they could fix this and keep the fence the color they’d chosen as it would mean one side of the fence wouldn’t match the others. I said tough s#*t, it’s not my problem. I told them that I would be kind and give them the weekend to fix the fence. AITA?
The internet did their due diligence and weighed in.
stroppo wrote:
YTA. Yes, you should've told them while they were painting it. Why didn't you? Well, as you yourself say, "maybe it wasn't such a big deal." Seems the real issue is the color of the house. That's when you started complaining.
YTA. Saying things like they "should've researched" and "tough shit" and giving them until the weekend to fix it. You sound really punitive and unforgiving. Are you like this with your other neighbors? I wonder what they really think about you.
Apologize to your neighbor. Agree with them that you should've said something before. *Apologize about how unpleasant you were.* See if you can find some color that would work for both of you (white? that goes well with pink). Maybe go so far as to help pay for the paint (because you said nothing before) and help them paint it. Otherwise...YTA.
Foggy_Radish wrote:
YTA. And why is the color of someone's house bothering you that much? You'd hate me. Mine is a wicked bright teal with hot pink trim.
IfICouldStay wrote:
YTA. Jeez! You purposely waited until they were done to drop the bomb and then gave them a deadline to fix it? Yeah, not your job, but it's called being a good neighbor. You should have told them just as soon as you saw it.
HandrewJobert wrote:
YTA. Yes, they should have checked first, but that doesn't give you the right to go over to their house and lecture them like you're their ab*sive dad.
BostonRevolutionary wrote:
YTA, any adult would have stopped them before they finished. At any moment you could have walked over and save them the trouble, but you chose not to. You even mentioned you had no issues with them up until this point, so at the first sign of trouble, you purposefully acted like an AH.
You were being a petty asshole which you already knew, and I think you got what you deserved. You also aren't very neighborly either, rather than be helpful you chose to be useless. You are that person in the neighborhood.
Clearly, OP is far more of a piece of work than the fence itself.