My Neighbor Situation

I've lived in a small, gated townhouse community in the big city for 7 years. There are eight, 3-story townhouses. Two rows of four homes facing each other and all of them share a single driveway to the main road. There's a fence on one end of the driveway and a gate to the road on the other. My house sits close to the side with the fence. I'm nestled between the thick walls of two other houses. They help protect me from the blazing sun in the summer and keep my power bill low. It's usually nice and quiet.

Half of my 2nd and 3rd floor windows overlook the shared driveway. My garage door also faces the driveway. Three hyper social ladies and their big dogs gather here every morning and evening and have conversations about meaningless shit. Before you call me an asshole, hear me out. I've tried to be nice to all of them and give them the benefit of the doubt. When I see them and say hello, only the oldest one acknowledges me. I get blank stares from the rest. Maybe I'm being a sensitive bitch or maybe I'm just paranoid, but that shit's rude. They don't like me and I don't know why. I don't like them either but I'm still nice to them.

The first is a petite, athletic latin woman in her mid to late 30s with skin like caramel. By far the most attractive of the three and the one with the largest, shittiest dogs. There's two of them. They're loud, dumb, and run around leashless despite not being allowed. She doesn't take them to the park to burn their big dog energy -- the driveway is their park and their territory. She lives with her boyfriend. He lifts weights in the driveway.

The second lady is the oldest. She's maybe 50 or a hard 45. Her dog is smaller, older, and better tempered. Her husband left a few years back so she lives alone with a 16 year old son. He was 9 when my wife and I bought our house. He just got his first truck. A full size pickup with more subwoofers than seats. Sometimes he parks it in the shared driveway with the stereo on. He's a sweet kid and reminds me of me when I was dumber. Her ex-husband visits weekly to take the son out. I've never spoken to him but my wife says he's a dick.

The third is the youngest and the loudest of the group. Probably about 30 and built like a softball player. I'm not sure how to describe her attitude. Intense? Passionate? She's the complainer of the group and her voice is loud and bouncy. It carries up the walls of the townhouses perfectly right into my windows. She yelled at me once for letting my A/C repair guy park too close to the grass. She was wearing mirrored aviator sunglasses and a camouflage jacket when she did it. She's my least favorite of the three. Her dog is the wildest of the pack. Her husband is a polite, soft spoken, nerdy guy.

When a dog behaves badly, it's not the dog's fault. Behind every poorly disciplined dog, there is a person who doesn't give shit about you or your space and just lets it all happen. Walking into your garage to hang out by your car when you're trying to leave. Running unleashed at women, cars, and baby carriages. Barking in front of your windows at 7:00am on a Saturday. Somethings gotta give.

I'm going to end it here because there's more to my terrific neighbors' escapades than one post can cover. I only wanted to paint a picture of the situation. I'll complain about the topic again soon enough. In the meantime, keep your dog on a leash and your voice at a dull roar coz old men are trying to sleep.