(No worries, panache45, who started this thread. I know it’s not you, and besides, what you describe isn’t the sort of thing I’m talking about.)
I know this sounds paranoid, but we’re getting the distinct impression that some of our neighbors are spying on us. Unfortunately, many people who live in and visit our neighborhood seem to be the sort who hang out in front of the building talking in loud voices late at night, and since we face the street we hear a lot of what they say. These people may be others who live in the same complex, or just from around the area; we’re not sure. My wife thinks it’s some people who do live here.
We’ve heard them say things like “They’re always there, they pick up their newspaper every day”. I didn’t worry too much about that, myself, but then another incident happened just recently. Just before going to bed, I spent about 30 minutes in the spare bedroom, which we use as an office. As soon as I turned on the light, I heard someone downstairs in front saying “woohoo, somebody turned on a light!”.
This is just sick. Who does that? Are we being cased for some special form of harrassment or worse?
Has this ever happened to you that you know of? What came of it?
Have you lived there a long time? I definitely see this attitude in our neighbors a little. A couple of years before we moved in they were doing some bridge work which turned our street into a dead end for over a year. Apparently they all became close and still socialize a lot. We’re fairly introverted and keep to ourselves.
I don’t think it’s being targetted so much as a lack of understanding that people are different.
We’ve been here awhile but they were here first, if they are who we think they are.
It wouldn’t be an age thing would it? In all my adult life I’ve never been the target, that I know of, of any mocking or harassment from another adult, but I’m a little older now.
We do keep to ourselves, but are on polite terms with the other residents–and they with us, at least in the daytime.
One of my neighbors thought I was a drug dealer because people sometimes entered my house in Los Angeles for a short time, then left with a large envelope.
The envelope usually contained printed music, but some minds just don’t work that way.
I spy on all my neighbors. Not a la “Rear Window,” but I notice whose cars are in their spots and so forth. This is a condo complex, where everyone has a little carhole and you get to know everyone on some level (at least in my little section). I don’t like to play music too loud if people are around, but it sounds better at a fuller volume, to me, so I have some reasons. I’m also paranoid and like to occasionally be nude and so forth. There’s also a hottish chick who moved next door, so trying to get a better look as she goes to her car. Nothing pervy, just curious if she’s cute or not.
Let me see if I’m getting this straight: you spy on your neighbors because you’re paranoid and you like to occasionally be nude? Are you nude when you are spying on your hottish new neighbor?
No, if I’m in my apartment in a state of undress (say, boxers) and have a window open for light, I’d rather not have people looking at me – I’d never care in an apartment building, but these are closer quarters.
And, now, I don’t “spy” in the sense you imply – I just glance out the window every now and then and see who’s around and who’s not. If I can take my empty boxes of wine to the trash without being singled out, or use the laundry room across the street, or see if my next door/downstairsnikeh neighbors (five of them) are home before I crank up the organ.
Indeed, “I Cover the Waterfront,” but spying was the wrong term for me to use.
Do you work from home or not go out much? They may be gossiping “I never see anyone go in or out! Are they alive in there?” by the newspaper every day thing and then you turned a light off so they were like “MORE PROOF”
Either way, I’m betting it was silly joking among friends and not some evil plan against you.
Yeah. Do these people, by chance, not work? Because I’ve noticed that neighbors that don’t work usually have lots of time to gossip and say stupid shit to each other. I’m sure it’s not done with a malicious or threatening tone.
ok, the group that hangs out out front has singled you out. why? because they’re bored, everybody likes to gossip & they’re making the point that they’re “cooler” than you all are (& some ppl are uncomfortable with other ppl being more secure in their own skin)…if you really want to diffuse the situation, start going outside too…lol
I live right across a retirement home, only a few dozen meters between my windows and theirs. Almost every time that I glance through my windows there’s one of the relics there staring at me. Though a lot of them are on Alzheimer rants and scream gibberish all day, at least they dont (or rarely) make coherent comments about what they see in my place (they do their open peeping to all my building neighbours as well).
It’s tiresome though to feel like somebody is keeping tabs on you at all times. If I wanted that I’d move to some shithole village, I’d like to get some of the benefits of living in a big city.
Here’s my question: How the hell do they think they know that you never leave the house unless they also never leave their house? If you’re going to be judgmental, at least be intelligently judgmental.
I had a problem with the gay couple next door spying on me. It was really bad. They would literally peak in my windows. Any visitors I had would get the “gay stare” hardcore and sometimes even questioned as to who they were. One Saturday night around 3 a.m. me and a friend had just gotten home and were in my living room watching TV with the blinds open. I saw one of them peaking in and and I went out the back door and came around front. I scared the hell out of him and told him to never do this again. It more or less stopped after that incident, thankfully.
Lol, what the fuck, is it a superpower like Cyclops’ ray? You mean a stare so intense like “my stare is so uber-intense, I’m gonna turn you gay, kid, and you’re gonna be my sex slave for me and my partner, come around, we have a dungeon in the basement” ?
Every apartment complex or neighborhood has its Mrs. Kravitz, the spy/gossip, that likes to people watch and talk about everyone else’s goings on. In our neighborhood, it’s the neighbor that lives directly behind us. It just so happens that we are also good friends with her and her husband. She’s really pretty innocent about the whole thing, but she definitely knows what’s up with most everybody on the block.