Day 575

My neighbor, I will call her Bikini Lady, does nothing all day except lounge in her backyard blasting country music — as if everyone in the neighborhood wishes to hear it — while wearing nothing but a bikini. She lives in a bathing suit, wearing it to do all her chores including folding laundry out on her deck and mowing her lawn. I have no idea how old she is except to say she isn’t old enough to be retired, but she is old enough to have two kids in their early to mid-twenties. How is it she doesn’t work? How can she afford her day to day expenses? I wonder if it’s my tax dollars that are supporting her. I sure as hell hope not.

I don’t like her. You’ve heard me rant about her before. Her children have raging parties, blaring music, rowdy drinking games, fireworks, and shouting. They have kept my son and I up on numerous occasions. After the first party, Kati spoke to the son, telling him that his party was a great disturbance. He denied it. Maybe he’s deaf. Is it possible he doesn’t hear his own music? Regardless, it’s apparent that being neighborly isn’t a priory because the ruckus parties continue. Kati didn’t want me to call the police. She wanted to me to deal with the lack of sleep, but there is a noise ordinance and my neighbors were very evidently breaking the law. So I called the police during the second party. It took them showing up twice for the music to subside. The drinking games and rowdy behavior continued. During their last party, sometime last month, I called the police again.This time they told me there wasn’t anything they could do unless I went down to the station, filed a report, and went to court. Wait? What? I have to be further inconvenienced in order to get sleep. It is very apparent by the noise level that the law is being broken, but the police weren’t willing to do anything about it. Why do we have police if they have no interest in enforcing the law? And it’s not just the noise. It has to be apparent to any policeman that shows up that a great deal of drinking is being done. Sobriety is not the norm at these parties. So why aren’t the police patrolling the streets near where I live to pull over the revelers after they leave? If they know there is drinking, shouldn’t they be vigilant and doling out DUIs to make sure accidents don’t occur. To make sure innocent people don’t get killed? I guess police really aren’t in the business of keeping neighborhoods safe.

But it goes deeper than the police not doing their jobs to enforce laws and keep neighborhoods safe. It is increasingly apparent to me that police pick and chose to whom laws apply. They protect each other and their friends. Laws don’t apply if you’re buddies with an officer. And it turns out that Bikini Lady’s son works for the town. He picks up the trash. So they’ve lived here for ages and the son works for the borough which means he probably does know the police, at least some of them. Is that why the law — the noise ordinance — doesn’t apply to them? Is that why the cops aren’t keeping a close watch for drunk drivers on the days they have been alerted that there is a party? 

Anyway, after the last time I called the cops, Bikini Lady verbally attacked me wanting to know what my problem was. Seriously, like it wasn’t obvious. Both my room and my son’s room overlook their yard. We can’t sleep while her parties are in full swing. So I told her, “I’m sick of your kids keeping me awake at night.” And you know what her response was, “They are entitled to have fun. They are entitled to have parties.” Yep, that wonderful sense of entitlement that is plaguing our society. I responded, “That’s exactly the problem. You feel entitled. But my son and I should be able to sleep in our own beds at night. We shouldn’t be kept awake by selfish people who care only about themselves.” She then launched into a tirade about how no one else had a problem with her and that it was obviously my fault and I should just deal with it. She reiterated her right to do as she pleases — her children’s right to do as they pleased — with no regard for anyone else. 

Later that same day, Bikini Lady verbally attacked Kati saying that I was wrong to refer to her children as kids because her son was a grown man. Kati’s response, “And yet he acts like a frat boy.” Bikini Lady said that if we were going to continue harassing her (apparently calling the police is harassment) she would harass us. Yes, she said that her intent from now own was going to be harassment. I don’t think that’s legal either but I’m not a lawyer. And hell, what would it matter if it was illegal? It’s not like the police would do anything about it.

Needless to say, Bikini Lady has kept her promise and is harassing us. She plays her music during the day even louder than she used to. Even with our windows closed, and my son working on the other side of the house, her music is a major distraction when I am trying to homeschool him. As a result, when we can, we go to my friend’s house in Somerville and have classes in her Little House. Apparently, Bikini Lady’s children are entitled to loud raging parties that are rude and disrespectful to her neighbors, but my son is not entitled to a peaceful environment in which to study and learn.

Last week, her son’s friend — who is often at their house — showed up sporting a Trump 2020 shirt. It wasn’t surprising. The fact that they are Trumpers was obvious all along. They fit the stereotype of his base perfectly — self centered white folk who don’t give a shit about anyone else. It was evident all through Trumps presidency that his followers were (are) selfish. It was (is) especially depicted during the pandemic with their attitude of, “I don’t care if your family dies, I refused to wear a mask or get vaccinated.” Can you argue with me? Trump supporters continue to claim that their right to do as they please is of greater importance than doing what is right for the community as a whole.

This is my neighbor, and yet, this weekend she hung in her window — a window facing our bedrooms — a large sign that said, “Teachers teach love not hate.” All three of us got a good laugh at that sign. What does she think, that because Kati and I are teachers we are supposed to love people who are rude and disrespectful toward us? She herself is the one incapable of love. Seriously, does she not realize that a huge component of loving someone is respecting them. If she is going to continue to claim entitlement for her children, if she is going to continue to harass us, what is she if not a deplorable human being. Speaking of deplorable, Trump’s entire platform was hate. So, if she did indeed embrace him as her son’s friend did, then she really has no right to preach anything about love.