Some people don’t want their town or neighborhood to ever change. They are set in their ways and don’t want to mess with their routine.
But, neighbors leave and new people move in. And sometimes those new neighbors have children.
Redditor Rhyskas encountered this very issue with a new neighbor. So they turned to the “Am I The A**hole” (AITA) subReddit for moral judgment.
They asked:
“AITA for telling a neighbor she can’t expect only old people to live in our street?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“I moved into my house about 2/3 years ago. I’m 30 (look 20) with a family.”
“It’s also a British town and my house is semi detached in a street of terraced houses.”
“I’m quite the introvert so apart from my direct neighbors I really made no attempt at getting to know the rest around my house. That being said, if someone speaks to me I will happily speak to them.”
But, OP had a particularly uncomfortable encounter with one of the neighbors.
“Cue to the incident, a OAP came up to me while I was taking stuff to my car and she started asking questions.”
“The usual stuff you ask new neighbors but then she asked me when I planned on moving which I thought was quite unusual. I told her I had no plans to move yet and then she went on to talk about how young people have started moving into the street and it is much so noisy, especially those with families.”
“She knew I have kids but they barely spend any time outside, and how she wished it went back to a street of old people.”
“For about 10 minutes there was nothing but low key insults about young people. I couldn’t really excuse myself as I had stuff to do with my car that was time sensitive.”
OP couldn’t take it.
“So in the end I just said,”
“‘You can’t expect only old people to live in a street, eventually they grow old and die. Maybe wait a few years and we’ll be old and you’ll have your street back if you’re still around.'”
“She looked at me as if I just murdered her family and walked off.”
“In the heat of the moment I felt justified but thinking back on it, I pretty much told her she will be dead soon which no one really likes hearing. She just wouldn’t stop talking about the good old times.”
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
Most Redditors agreed OP was not the a**hole.
“NTA”
“Hello fellow British person moving into an elderly area. I have had very similar conversations!”
“My entire street appears to be in the 60-80 year range. I think they’ve forgotten other people exist. They get mad when my 4 year old plays outside, and have made comments about how his trampoline and paddling pool are an ‘eye sore’ (in our back garden, in our private space, but I guess they can see it from the windows), and how they miss the previous resident who was such a sweet old man who had a lovely garden that I’ve ruined with my kids toys (he died…).”
“Sometimes these people need to be reminded about how selfish they are being and that retirement villages exist if they only ever want to encounter other elderly people.”
“I certainly don’t want anyone to die any time soon but at the same time, I really hope a few more families move into my area.” ~ AdrenalineAnxiety
Many agreed that it was nice to have families around.
“My grandmother in the US had a young family move into the neighborhood and they’re all delighted to have a child around. They go to the child’s school plays, have her over to bake cookies, take her to swim lessons. Kid got a dozen new grandparents.” ~ Delicious_Lobster468
“That is sweet! US here and we were one of the few young families when we moved into our (back then) mostly older neighborhood.”
“One of the original owners was still there when we moved in and she asked me to say hi when I walked my baby down the street. She was an adorable woman who happily shared the 70 year history of the neighborhood.”
“But, we mostly heard how happy everyone was to have kids in the neighborhood” ~ Crazed_rabbiting
“I was one of these kids. We were some of the only kids on our street when I was very young, and our neighbors were all so lovely to us. My mom was alone with three kids months at a time because my dad worked abroad and they really looked after her and helped her out when she needed it.”
“They always had a kid around (me) who would feed their cat or water their plants when they were on holiday too.”
“When my mom got older and younger people moved in, she got to do the same – next door neighbor had a baby and her husband had to travel for work, so my mom would offer help and keep an eye on her, and the cycle of kind neighbors continued :)”
“Edit: almost forgot the most wholesome bit! When next door had their baby (I was about 21 at the time) they gave it my name! Not named after me as we weren’t close, but gave my mum a cute card saying ‘we obviously have the same taste in baby names as well as houses’” ~ SpamLandy
Many shared their own experiences.
“I was also one of these kids! And I remember all of those kindly neighbors perfectly.”
“Our next door neighbor was a sweet man who had some serious challenges with learning disabilities. He was actually the first person to take my picture when I was a baby.”
“He also had an incredible house with all kinds of projects that he built himself, including a koi pond that spanned the entire perimeter of his back yard. He built and maintained the whole thing by himself.”
“I had another neighbor who gave me a heavy gold-colored paperweight that he got when he was in the army. I still have it and I still love it.”
“There was also a woman on our block with serious mental health issues, and her house was basically a hoarder house. She also had a teenage son who really, really suffered because of his mother’s mental illness.”
“The other older neighbors would step in and invite him over for meals, help him with his homework and let him use their showers when the hot water was out at his house again. One neighbor even gifted him a bicycle. That boy would be a man in his 40s or early 50s by now, I really hope he’s okay.” ~ evilcaribou
The best neighborhoods are a mix of different people.