Kate Hackett
No, it’s not a ransom note for a kid. Or a beloved pet. Or even anything alive. It’s a ransom note for… a trash bin.
Listen, neighbors can be tricky; you never know if you’re going to be next to a reasonable, friendly human being or an absolute turd, so sometimes having a sense of humor about everything can be the key to living peacefully. u/OhShitIdid recently had an interaction with his neighbor after relations had already gone south and they want to know if this was out of line.
Let’s check it out.
OP’s next door neighbor left a vaguely curt note in OP’s mailbox about some mixed up trash bins.
A couple weeks ago, my next door neighbor left a note in my mailbox. Apparently our trash carts were mixed up and he wanted his back. Which is fine. But he wasn’t exactly polite. The note read:
“You have my trash cart. The city assigns everyone a specific trash cart for a reason. I expect it returned in good condition.”
This neighbor and OP got along fine when OP first moved in, but about two years ago, things started to go south.
For reference, my neighbor is older. Probably in his 70s. We got along fine when we moved in. We saw him and his wife almost every day. We would say hi and chat and they always got our son something for his birthday.
Two years ago, OP updated their home and something about the remodel changed the relationship with the neighbors.
Things kind of went south about two years ago. Our house was built in the early 90s and was starting to look its age. We did new stucco, windows and doors. So now we have what looks like a new, contemporary home next to their home which now looks worse than it did by comparison.
I think this bothered them. Before the remodel, they would come out and say hi just about every time they saw us. After the remodel, the only time we spoke was when they happened to be coming or going at the same time. Maybe once a month if that.
After getting the note about the trash bins, OP made a ransom note by cutting out letters and pasting them together.
So back to the story. After getting his note, I made a ransom note. I cut letters and words out of my wife’s magazines to write this:
“I have your trash cart. If you want to see it alive again, you’ll do exactly as I say. Meet me at the arroyo bridge at midnight. No funny business. If I so much as smell a cop, you’ll find your cart floating in the river.
– Anonymous “
It’s funny! It is funny – but the neighbor… did not appreciate it. OP got the neighbor his can, but can’t help but wonder why this went down so poorly.
I thought it was funny. I thought he might even think it was funny. But the next day when I was leaving for the gym, he comes out and says, “You’re a real asshole, you know.”
I was a little surprised, so I laughed. Which I think made him madder. I just replied, “Sorry, man. Just making a joke. Let me get your trash can.” They’re identical as best I can tell. But apparently he was pretty attached to his.
Reddit thought that the joke was funny — and overwhelmingly voted that OP was not the asshole here.
“IDK, you might have been an a******, but I got a laugh over it. I mean, come on, it’s a city provided trash can, right? Are there ID numbers on each can? NAH,” wrote one user.
Another made a very fair point, “Maybe he was actually pissed because he waited for hours at the Arroyo Bridge at midnight and you never showed. NTA.”
YES, there are Redditors with their panties in a twist about this story, but I’m not giving them air time here. The world has gone stupid if people can’t laugh about a ransom note for a TRASH CAN.
