Pesky Neighbors - They're Everywhere!

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Almost 6 years ago, my family and I lived in a house that was inherited by my mother from her parents. We've lived there all our lives and we have a lot of memories growing up in that house, both fun and some that we don't want to remember. I so miss that old house in Navotas.

I loved that we had a big terrace where me and my friends spend weekends (and random days of the week, too *LOL*) partying and drinking 'til the wee hours of the morning. I also loved that our home is just right across the market so we can easily buy ingredients or food. Everything was almost accessible. We also had 4 commercial spaces for rent on the first floor, as shown on the photo at the right. I took that photo when I went there last year.

Now, you might be wondering what happened and we decided to move out of our home in Navotas. It wasn't easy, I tell yah, most especially for my mother. The house meant so much more to her because it was the same place where she grew up. It was one of the most valuable inheritance she got from her parents, who, by the way, only adopted her, but treated her like their own flesh and blood. So, what exactly happened that pushed us to sell the house and live somewhere else?

Pesky neighbors. No, not just the regular noisy or nosy (oh, look what I just did - noisy and nosy… errm, never mind) ones, but really irritating neighbors. Imagine this - everytime we start a new small business, there'll be someone doing exactly the same thing. Not necessarily better than us, but still, they're competing with our business. Plus, people in our area in Navotas seemed to be more violent and generally disrespectful. I'm not kidding! Imagine watching men running after each other with deadly weapons. Scary, right? There was this even one night when we were partying when some guy threw beer bottle caps at our terrace, almost hitting my friends. Like, seriously? If you needed us to keep the noise down, why can't you just ask nicely, right?

That's why, I believe, we were meant to move to a more peaceful place. And it was the best decision we've ever had as a family. We had a few problems the first month, but we're doing pretty well now. I was even able to open my own business here - a computer shop. And, we've got other business plans coming really soon. We're hoping to make our area commercial by next year.

Now, about the title of this post, let me explain. Though we are pretty happy with where we live now, we haven't completely escaped the horrors of pesky neighbors.

Our new home here in Malabon used to be a part of this huge compound. The owner decided to sell about one-fourth of their land to us. Two years ago, our backyard didn't have any walls or fences separating us from the rest of the residents in the compound. So, people can literally come and go in our backyard without our permission. It was really irritating because we got plants there like chili peppers, ampalaya and flowers. Our rude neighbors would pick grown veggies from our plants without asking for permission. They would even sometimes damage our plants. And they also get their water supply from us! Crazy, right?

That was when we really decided to build a wall to keep them away from our backyard. We even put up nets and bamboo shoots so they won't be able to reach our plants. Now, you think that's where everything ends, right? Well, obviously, no. Here are a few other things they've been doing to irritate the heck out of us:

• They feel like just because they're our neighbors, it's okay for them to disturb us ANY TIME of the day to borrow tools or buy prepaid load from me. I'm okay with the last one if they'll be buying Php 100 and up worth of load. But, Php 10 Sun Combo load, heck no!

• They think it's okay to climb over our wall instead of going in through our front gate. Yes, I'm serious. And I'm seriously considering putting up OSHA signs to hopefully get it in their heads that it's NOT OKAY to do that. We've already told them about this, but apparently, these 50-something adults don't understand.
• They think it's okay to request to share MY internet connection with them FOR FREE. Like, seriously?!?!
• They think it's okay to ask me to open my shop so they can access the internet even after I've been closed for hours and it's almost 12 midnight. It's okay if it was an emergency, but no. They wanted to upload photos. Argh.
• They thought I'll be okay with them asking me to perform services for them FOR FREE. Like what, you might ask. Hmmm… design an invitation/tarp for them, print documents, etc. I'm in this business to MAKE MONEY, not for charity. I know they're capable of paying so NO, it's not okay. Our relatives are willing to pay for my services, so I don't understand why they think being our neighbors gives them that privilege.

So far, those are the top reasons why I'm irritated by our neighbors here at our new home. I mean, as much as I want to be a good neighbor to them, they're just making it real hard for me.

If you know me, you'd know I've kept my cool and my mouth shut. My father is a bit close to the owners of the land, but I just can't bear how inconsiderate they can be. They may not be as worse as our neighbors back in Navotas, but still, they irritate me. And this isn't just the case with our neighbors here in the compound, but also the rest who live near us. You can read more on my blog post about this on iCafe Blog.

How's your relationship with YOUR neighbors? I wish you have a better relationship with them. ^_^