Keeping a good relationship with your neighbors is hard if they insist on spying on your every move. That also leads to a lot of awkward conversations.
A Redditor encountered this very issue with their neighbor. So they turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for moral judgment.
They asked:
AITA, For walking around naked in my own house?
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“Today I was approached by my neighbor.”
“I just moved into my home a month ago and this is the first interaction we have had.”
“After some small chit chat he stated ‘this is kind of awkward but me and my family have noticed you walking around naked in your kitchen. A small window at the landing of our stairs looks into your kitchen.'”
“The window he speaks about is covered by blinds except for a 1 foot portion at the top of the window. The section of my kitchen they can see into is relatively small and the amount I actually walk around naked is very minimal.”
“For them to witness me naked would take either a coincidence or someone looking for it.”
OP’s neighbor continued.
“He stated ‘I would hope this is not intentional’ and suggested I put up blinds if I wanted to continue.”
“I was taken aback by this conversation and left to feel as thought I have done something shameful.”
“I am very comfortable with my body and feel I have the right to walk around my home in what ever I see fit. I have not ever seen anyway from their house hold through the window and have in now way done this intentionally.”
“After some deliberation with my wife I got angry about this conversation and have no intentions of stopping, am I the a**hole here?”
Redditors gave their opinions on the situation by declaring:
- NTA – Not The A**hole
- YTA – You’re The A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everyone Sucks Here
Redditors agreed OP was not the a**hole.
“NAH. This is an awkward situation, and it would probably be in your best interest to get blinds or curtains so people can’t see into your home – because, let’s face it, if they can see it, there’s a chance others can too.”
“Even if you’re not walking around naked, I can’t imagine wanting people to be looking into your home regardless. You’re not the a**hole for walking around naked in your own home, but if they are able to just randomly see it on occasion without intentionally staring into your window, then they’re not the a**hole either for expressing their discomfort.” ~ xxLostAngelxx
“Exactly, he is just giving OP a heads up that he is visible from their house. He didn’t chew him out, sounds like it was more just an FYI conversation.” ~ skidoo1032
“The neighbor can put blinds on THEIR window. Since it’s a window on the stair landing, it shouldn’t cause any undue issues. If they don’t like what he’s doing in the privacy of his own home, they should stop looking. They are being peeping toms and have no right to tell someone what to do in their own home. It’s not like he’s outside or standing in the front window of his house watching people walk by. NTA.” ~ babcock27
“My fiance and I staple or nail black out curtains around our windows. We like the privacy and it keeps out the heat since we live in AZ. It also keeps people from noticing what things we have in home for them to potentially rob.” ~ Sayomi_Koneko
“I’m shocked that nobody thinks the neighbor is a peeping Tom. OP’s description of the window makes it sound incredibly difficult to catch an inadvertent glance through the window. My gut tells me the neighbor is a pervert and is escalating his involvement by broaching this subject with OP.” ~ ptlx
It’s definitely an uncomfortable situation.
“I would just want to know if my neighbors could see into my house. If they could see me naked and didn’t say anything and I found out later, I’d think they might be perverts withholding that info.” ~ Throwjob42
“I live across from a school and put some window film that makes my bedroom window opaque. Let’s the light in but stops us from getting arrested.” ~ tryoracle
“I disagree and think the neighbor is actually an a**hole based on this:”
“‘I would hope this is not intentional” and suggested I put up blinds.'”
“This seems passive aggressive. The neighbor didn’t need to make a statement about hoping that OP was not intentionally flashing them when the neighbor admitted that this only an issue when looking out of a window that is on a stair landing and into one specific window of OP’s house.”
“It also makes the neighbor an a**hole to suggest that the solution is that OP put blinds on their window rather than them putting blinds on their window. The frequency with which the neighbor randomly finds themselves in a situation where they are using the stairs in the appropriate direction to be facing out their window while OP is both in their kitchen, and naked, has got to be vanishingly small.”
“The neighbor’s first step should have been to buy blinds. There was no need to involve OP in this at all, and certainly not with a passive aggressive comment about how they hope OP isn’t being naked at them.” ~ Alert-Potato
“This. I walk around naked all the damned time and if anyone approached me about that my first question to them would be: ‘why are you looking in my windows?'”
“It’s so freaking easy to just look somewhere else when you are in viewing range of someone else’s personal space. Just do that – look anywhere but IN the window! If you don’t I can only assume you are a voyeur and creep.” ~ Environmental_Cat670
“Neighbor could just as easily put blinds over their window, right? ‘A small window at the landing of our stairs.’ How much time are they spending on the landing of the stairs? It seems an odd place to hang out. If OP’s nakedness were visible, say, while they’re sitting at the dining room table, that’d be different.” ~ redheadjd
That neighbor spends too much time looking out.