# I'm not in the habit of spying on my neighbors, but . . . **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 17, 2011, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335 "2011-07-17T07:58:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![LVBoPeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/858c86/32.png) [@LVBoPeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LVBoPeep)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/21 "2011-07-17T15:47:43Z")
We just moved back to my hometown, a small community of 15,000 or so. Across the street is a family that seems to consist of a young couple, one of their mothers and a couple of kids. Parked in front of the house is a large motorhome and a travel trailer (Very inconvenient parking situation, btw.) Our other neighbor has been witnessed knocking on that trailer and talking through the window. Occasionally, one of the house inhabitants will be standing at the door and talking to someone. We are under the impression that someone is living in the trailer, although in 100 plus heat and no generator running, we’re not sure why anyone would choose to do that. We’ve never seen anyone actually come in or go out of the trailer. Our landlord told us the trailer and rv would be gone for the summer but so far, they are still there. The other day, I bumped it with my truck (no damage done) but no one came out to inquire. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/22 "2011-07-17T16:45:02Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > We’ve lived here 6 years, and I don’t think I have _ever_ looked at that house and not seen the glow from that screen in the front window. Are you sure it’s not an aquarium? They give a lot of light, and they have to be on 24/7. ---
**Author:** ![Lobelia\_Overhill](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@Lobelia\_Overhill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobelia_Overhill)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/23 "2011-07-17T18:36:45Z")
> [@beartato](#): > > How do you think she got/stays thin? Plenty of people run every day - to maintain fitness, to get some peace and quiet, to get some fresh air. > [@beowulff](#): > > You’ve been seriously wooshed, dude. thank you > [@kayT](#): > > The woman who moved in next door almost 2 months ago has not put up any curtains except in one bedroom which appears to belong to her mother. This woman has also been leaving all the lights on every night including the two upstairs bedrooms where her grandchildren sleep (or try to; I would certainly not sleep with the ceiling light on full bore all night). I wonder if she is just an exhibitionist or if she’s scared of something. This is a very safe, quiet neighborhood. > > So, while I also am not in the habit of spying on the neighbors, in this case it is really hard not to! Maybe there’s lots of spiders, or bats in the bedrooms I’m thinking it’s probably bats… ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/24 "2011-07-17T18:47:38Z")
I’ve written about this neighbor before. It’s a married couple, no children, have lived there for 20+ years. They seem very pleasant if you meet them. However: 1. They have always had one large and fearsome dog. Not the same dog over the years of course, but always the same kind, and they name each dog the same as the original. It is kept within the yard (see #4) or on a leash at all times but is snarly and scary. I would definitely not want to intrude anywhere this dogs is protective of. 2. They have permitted the shrubs around the house to grow all the way up to the second story. 3. There is another dense row of evergreens around the perimeter of the front yard. 4. The rest of the yard is enclosed by a both a chain link and wooden fence. The only way to enter the house is via the garage door, controlled by as far as I can tell interior controls and a remote in their vehicles. 5. They harbor a large array of feral cats in the shrubbery. As far as we can tell the cats are given food but never receive any veterinary services. There are constant new litters of kittens. We often see cats that look injured or ill. Animal control and the SPCA has been contacted before and according to neighborhood gossip the people have paid large fines on at least one occasion. We speculate that they are engaged in some illicit business, but there is rarely any traffic in or out of the house. It’s a mystery. ---
**Author:** ![Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8c91f0/32.png) [@Bam\_Boo\_Gut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bam_Boo_Gut)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/25 "2011-07-17T22:50:50Z")
> [@LVBoPeep](#): > > .We are under the impression that someone is living in the trailer, although in 100 plus heat and no generator running, we’re not sure why anyone would choose to do that. … The other day, I bumped it with my truck (no damage done) but no one came out to inquire. Hell yeah! I’m going to start doing this. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2011, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/26 "2011-07-17T23:59:48Z")
There’s this one woman in our neighborhood who has her house set up like a fortress. She has this big wire fence built up all around the yard, with big dogs everywhere. She’s an ex-Marine\* and has Marine flags flying, and her SUV is COVERED in right-wing/tea-part type bumper stickers. Right after the last presidential election, she started her flag upside down. :rolleyes: She also parks her motorcycle right out in the middle of the street. Some day someone is bound to crash right into it. \*No offense to Marines. Just that she seems to be sending off this really scary, “don’t fuck with me, imma cut you, cuz I was in the military” vibe. And they’re EVERYWHERE. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyCatLady](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dfb087/32.png) [@CrazyCatLady](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyCatLady)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/27 "2011-07-18T00:31:08Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > Are you sure it’s not an aquarium? They give a lot of light, and they have to be on 24/7. I’m sure–I can see part of the screen from upstairs. ---
**Author:** ![Fair\_Rarity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fair_rarity/32/153_2.png) [@Fair\_Rarity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fair_Rarity)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/28 "2011-07-18T02:00:32Z")
I lived in my last house for like 6 or 7 years. I saw my neighbor’s live-in girlfriend the day I moved in and literally like twice after that. Neither of us were shut-ins. I was outside a lot. Our driveways were next to each other’s and her car would move, but I never saw her. How did Ms Houdini do it? ---
**Author:** ![flatlined](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@flatlined](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flatlined)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/29 "2011-07-18T02:36:01Z")
I’m a smoker, so I spend a LOT of time outside. The lady who lives next to me is batshit crazy. She hates everyone, hates kids, hates people walking their dogs, hates delivery people and tells my yard guys how to do their job. The job that I am paying them to do. If crazy lady goes out into her back yard, she can look through my yard and see that someone on the other street has a camp trailor set up in their yard. We don’t have a HOA or anything, and the people with the camp trailor are quiet. Crazy lady has started a petition to have camp trailors banned. She now hates me because I refused to sign it. I’m guessing she had paper going around when I moved in. ---
**Author:** ![Ruby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/13edae/32.png) [@Ruby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ruby)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/30 "2011-07-18T02:59:37Z")
We have Hillbilly Neighbors[sup]TM[/sup]. The parents and their children (who are in their teens) scream at the top of their lungs at each other daily. No reason to spy as we know more about them just overhearing their loud mouths than we ever wanted to know.:mad: ---
**Author:** ![nikonikosuru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@nikonikosuru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nikonikosuru)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/31 "2011-07-18T03:06:30Z")
> [@PandaBear77](#): > > Drug dealers, darlin’. I’m putting my money on this. Speaking from experience, too. ---
**Author:** ![typoink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecb155/32.png) [@typoink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/typoink)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/32 "2011-07-18T03:34:32Z")
My neighbors for the past year appeared to have a 24-hour low-key hipster party going on 24/7. Pretty much any time of day, there’d be 2-6 raggedy, scrawny kids in tight clothes sitting on the wrought-iron porch smoking while a handful more milled around in the uncurtained living room of the vintage brick three-flat. Never unpleasant, just odd in how constant it was. It looked like we lived next door to a publicity still for a postpunk band. ---
**Author:** ![CaptMurdock](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/captmurdock/32/11736_2.png) [@CaptMurdock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaptMurdock)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/33 "2011-07-18T04:33:18Z")
Our next door neighbor, whom my wife has christened “Floozy Q” walks around in halters and short-shorts – and REALLY does not have the figure for it. She also has at least half-a-dozen cats, only two of which she ever lets out of doors. She “helps” the older gentleman a couple of doors down – said “help” includes driving HIS car every which way. BTW, nobody has seen the old guy in months, God knows what she’s done to him. OTOH, she’s an improvement on the couple (both males) who lived in a constant state of inebriation, played loud music and just generally made nuisances of themselves. When one of them went off his meds (bipolar) and pulled a knife on sheriff’s deputies, they were asked to leave. Buh-bye. ---
**Author:** ![SecretaryofEvil](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e95f7d/32.png) [@SecretaryofEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SecretaryofEvil)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 7:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/34 "2011-07-18T07:46:02Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > There’s this one woman in our neighborhood who has her house set up like a fortress. She has this big wire fence built up all around the yard, with big dogs everywhere. She’s an ex-Marine\* and has Marine flags flying, and her SUV is COVERED in right-wing/tea-part type bumper stickers. Right after the last presidential election, she started her flag upside down. :rolleyes: > > She also parks her motorcycle right out in the middle of the street. Some day someone is bound to crash right into it. Or steal it. In the area where I grew up a rather common crime was for a small group of guys with a large pickup truck to simply park near a bike on the street, then quickly load the motorcycle into the back of the truck. Seems a bit silly to go to all that extra trouble to beef up one’s security then to leave a valuable and easy to steal item like a motorcycle outside the perimeter. Especially now that the antichrist has been elected president. I mean, I’m pretty sure you’re required to use a motorcycle when you fight the antichrist, right? ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/35 "2011-07-18T08:57:38Z")
In the previous house, we had a storage nook-type thing in the bathroom, and it had a few holes in the bottom. Well one evening we noticed light coming form those holes. We went outside and checked the cellar-type door (not underground). The normally padlocked door was unlocked. We weren’t about to approach a potential deranged hobo, but later found out that the neighbor was living down there. Fight with his girlfriend or something. A call to the landlord stopped it for about two days, then he was back. It wouldn’t have been a big deal except he was probably on our power. ---
**Author:** ![tumbleddown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e9bcb4/32.png) [@tumbleddown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tumbleddown)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/36 "2011-07-18T09:40:08Z")
We had new neighbors, an interracial gay couple, who moved into a house across the street and undertook a huge amount of home improvement. They started on the first warm day of spring, and did almost all of the work themselves, and I watched as they took a house that’d falled into neglect and turned it into the gem of the block. It was utterly gorgeous. And so were they. They’d sit together on the porch in the evening when they were done with the work, and have dinner and hold hands or put heads on one another’s shoulders and talk and listen to music. It was very romantic. When all the work was done, they sent out invitations to everyone on the block to come to a cookout, and only about 1/4 of the neighbors showed up, because of the gay interracial cooties. Then about two months later, in the middle of the night, I watched one of them come flying out of the house with four suitcases and two duffel bags, get into a cab, and leave. He never came back, as far as I know. His car is still here, (in the exact same spot, I hope it’s at least getting started once in a while) but he’s not. That was October of last year, and he’s just _gone_. I’d love to know where and why. > [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > The guy across the street from us appears to have the rather large tv in his front room on 24/7. Could he be using it as both a TV and a monitor for his computer system? **Guinastasia** I think you live down the street from a friend of mine. Otherwise, there are two Tea Partier ex-Marine women with fortress houses with unfortunate motorcycle parking skills around here. I’ve heard complaints, especially about the big loud dogs. ---
**Author:** ![PunditLisa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/4af34b/32.png) [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/37 "2011-07-18T11:20:19Z")
> [@tumbleddown](#): > > We had new neighbors, an interracial gay couple, who moved into a house across the street and undertook a huge amount of home improvement. How cliched! We had a gay couple move in to a fixer-upper two houses up, and they spruced it up in no time, too! Then they moved out to start again with another fixer upper. My next door neighbor is moving soon and I wish there was a legal way to only market to gay men. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/38 "2011-07-18T11:31:15Z")
> [@CrazyCatLady](#): > > The guy across the street from us appears to have the rather large tv in his front room on 24/7. Every time I’m out in the front yard or look out one of the front windows (including our bedroom window), I see the glow of the screen. When I get up in the morning, tv’s on. When I go out in the middle of the day, tv’s on. When I come home in the evening, tv’s on. When I got to bed, tv’s on. If I wake up in the middle of the night to pee, tv’s on. We’ve lived here 6 years, and I don’t think I have _ever_ looked at that house and not seen the glow from that screen in the front window. > > Weird. Someone here, a while back said their TV, growing up, was never off. Ever, for stretches of years and years. ---
**Author:** ![sjankis630](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ea924/32.png) [@sjankis630](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sjankis630)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/39 "2011-07-18T12:46:56Z")
> [@](#): > > The guy across the street from us appears to have the rather large tv in his front room on 24/7. I don’t watch that much TV. I spend plenty of time online though. I don’t understand this. Some people have to have the TV on. i have friends who have 6 animals on their 4 acres yet still manage to leave their 55 inch lcd on even when they are not in the house. I am constantly turning the thing off whenever they leave the room. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [July 18, 2011, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335/40 "2011-07-18T13:33:43Z")
> [@MLS](#): > > I’ve written about this neighbor before. It’s a married couple, no children, have lived there for 20+ years. They seem very pleasant if you meet them. However: > > 1. They have always had one large and fearsome dog. Not the same dog over the years of course, but always the same kind, and they name each dog the same as the original. It is kept within the yard (see #4) or on a leash at all times but is snarly and scary. > > \ > > 1. They harbor a large array of feral cats in the shrubbery. As far as we can tell the cats are given food but never receive any veterinary services. There are constant new litters of kittens. We often see cats that look injured or ill. Animal control and the SPCA has been contacted before and according to neighborhood gossip the people have paid large fines on at least one occasion. > > We speculate that they are engaged in some illicit business, but there is rarely any traffic in or out of the house. > > It’s a mystery. What do you think the large, fearsome dog eats? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-not-in-the-habit-of-spying-on-my-neighbors-but/589335.md?page=3)