#neighbor-conflict

#neighbor-conflict

I made the mistake of hosting Thanksgiving in my new home. It is a three-story, two-bath home built on the water off a jogging path. The lot is long and narrow, so one hallway runs through the entire house, and it isn't fenced off. My brother was supposed to bring just his girlfriend. Instead, it was her, her two screaming sons, and another friend with her two uncontrollable dogs.

And when the people who live right next door are engaging in potentially chaotic behavior-like blowing their leaves onto the street in front of our place, or attaching something to the shared fence with screws that poke through the wood on our side-I put all my energy into convincing myself that I didn't see anything. Sure, I'm conflict avoidant, but I'm also a Scorpio. If I allow myself to notice my neighbors' offenses... baby, you've got a feud going!

One of our neighbors is complaining that the smoke from the fire is bothering her she has pulmonary problems and says she can't breathe or even keep her windows open for fresh air. She has asked us to stop using it. She says if we don't, it will affect our friendship. We have cleaned our fireplace regularly and placed a new, larger flue on the chimney, but it didn't help. No other neighbors have complained.

There are residents in my building who do not let me (or other dog owners) get in the elevator because they don't like dogs or because they don't want their dog in an elevator with other dogs. My dog is fine with other dogs in elevators. I even see this behavior from other residents who have dogs in strollers/that they are carrying.