I’ve been having trouble getting a decent night’s sleep since moving to PA. My neighbors seem rather whacked to me. Two days ago we had a heavy snowstorm, and my neighbor’s kids across the street cleared the snow with their gas-powered snow blower–at 11:15 p.m.! They worked for about an hour. A couple times I started to drop off to sleep but jolted awake when one of the kids yelled to the other.
Finally, I went to the front window and watched them for a while, willing the blower to break or run out of gas. Not nice, I know, but I actually tried to go to bed early for a change. Then the blower stopped working. The kid pulled on the starter cord about 20 times before thinking to look into the gas tank, whereupon he yelled, “That’s why it won’t work! It’s out of gas!” DUH. I went to bed at 11 p.m. but didn’t get to sleep until 1 a.m.
The neighbor across the street to the right also snowblows after 10 p.m.
I had to say something to my next-door neighbor when he was shoveling his backyard sidewalk at 3:30 a.m. outside my bedroom window. Now he waits until 7 a.m.
The neighbor across the street and two houses to the left is apparently missing the button for his car alarm or there’s something wrong with it. He can open the door with a remote, but he has to turn the alarm off from inside. So he presses a button as he approaches the car, :::honk::: :::honk::: :::honk::: gets inside :::honk::: :::honk::: :::honk::: and turns off the alarm.
A woman four houses down across the street came home from the bar around the corner at 1:30 a.m. She was accompanied by three friends. They yelled at one another as they walked down the street, and then they yelled in her front yard for ten minutes. They must think they’re the only people on the planet. I heard last night from an acquaintance that it’s a crack bar, which would explain the man asking as I walked past one night, “Want to buy?”
Many cars come by to pick up friends who live across the street. They never park the car and knock. They all :::honk::: :::honk::: :::hoooooooonk::: :::hoooooooooonk::: :::honk::: :::honk::: until their friend comes out. Even at 11:30 p.m. And then often the friend sticks his head out the door and yells to be heard over the motor: “Hold on, dude!”
I feel like I’ve landed in the land of ignorance and self-centeredness, and I’ve been trying to find a way to accept it and let it wash over me instead of anger me. I’m so very tired. I’m tired of entering into that fuzzy state between wakefulness and sleep only to be pulled violently back by the shout of a neighbor or honk of a horn. I’ve even entertained fantasies of walking out with my gun and blowing people’s heads off.
While reading Matrix Energetics yesterday I came across a statement that might help me:
I told him that he needed to turn that frustration into fascination, which would keep him in a more resourceful state.
So can I find fascination in the behavior of my neighbors? It’s worth a try. It’s better than fantasizing shooting them.
Here’s a great video by Robert Anton Wilson on Naive Realism. It’s a little over two minutes but quite worth watching and thinking about.
{ 2 comments… read them below or add one }
Maybe since you know you cannot change the behaviour of all your neighbors you could try to learn to sleep with white noise in your room. I am not such a light sleeper but if I leave on the fan in my bathroom and the door open for the night, when my 16 year old daughter gets up at 4:45 AM and blasts rap music.. I hardly ever wake up anymore. Just thought I’d suggest it since it helps me..
That’s a good idea! Maybe I’ll get one of those clocks that plays nature sounds, like babbling brooks or ocean waves. What a delightful way to go to sleep.
And extend my sympathy to your daughter who has to get up so early. :::shudder:::