20-Year-Old Says He Pretended Not to Notice Neighbor During Walk, Then She Told His Mom
The man said in a Reddit post that his neighbor "has a bit of main character syndrome," and always thinks she's "entitled to a full conversation"
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stock photo of a woman wavingA 20-year-old man says that he pretended not to notice his neighbor because he didn't want to get sucked into a long talk, but then got ratted out to his mom.
In a recent post on Reddit's "Am I The A-----," the young adult said that he likes to do on daily walks in his neighborhood.
"I'm an introvert so I don't like stopping to talk to my neighbors if they're also out for a walk," he added, noting that he prefers to "either wave or say a quick 'hello' and continue on my walk."
However, the man said that one of his neighbors, "let's call her 'Rita,' " could be difficult to deal with.
"She's an older woman (possibly mid to late 70's) and she has a bit of main character syndrome," he explained. "Rita is one of those old fashioned people that feels like their entitled to a full conversation with people while they're out walking, meaning a quick 'hello' is unacceptable to her."
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While out on a walk one day, the man said he saw his neighbor sitting on her porch, but "pretended I didn't notice her" and kept walking. However, as he passed her house, he "heard the sound of someone yelling."
When he took out one his earbuds, he said he could hear Rita call out, "I'm telling your mother about this."
But, he added, "I thought she was just being dramatic and continued on my walk."
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However, when he got home, he found out that his neighbor had actually called his mother and "complained about him." Though he said that his mother was on his side, she did tell him that he should apologize to "keep the peace."
"Our neighborhood is pretty small and everybody knows everybody and she doesn't want Rita to badmouth us to anyone and make us look bad," the Redditor said.
Although he ended up telling his mom he didn't want to apologize, he also decided to ask the internet what they thought. Turns out, most of the commenters didn't think he was in the wrong.
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"You need to set a boundary," one commenter wrote. "No apologies are necessary. Also, you're an adult and don't have to worry about your parents being mad at you about something a [neighbor] said."
"[You're] not obligated to have a conversation with anyone while on a walk," read another reply.
However, other commenters suggested that even though it might not be necessary to apologize, there is another neighborly way to move forward.
"A quick wave never killed anyone either," suggested one commenter, while another added, "Wave when you walk by and just keep going."
