A tenant living in a condominium should feel protected while sharing communal areas with other residents.
Such was not the case for one teenager.
Redditor anonthrowaway1926361 is a 17-year-old girl from South America who was harassed by a new neighbor.
When she reacted by making an accusation, she visited the “Am I the a**hole?” (AITA) subReddit and asked:
“AITA for calling my neighbor entitled and implying that she’s racist?”
The Original Poster (OP) explained:
“For reference, I (17f[emale]) am from South America. I have an accent, curly hair, and tan easily.”
“So naturally my skin is darker than someone who is European. However, I have lived in the condo, in America, which I live in currently since I was a child.”
“The reason I have an accent is because I usually only speak Portuguese at home and often speak to my relatives from Brazil in Portuguese.
“So the condo I live in also has a pool for everyone who lives here. It’s a very nice pool and no visitors are allowed to use it unless they are accompanied by someone who owns a condo.”
“So naturally a lot of people are wary of visitors.”
“Recently a new family moved in to the unit below me, and they have already filed 5-7 complaints against my family and me within the few months they’ve been here.”
“The landlord has ignored all of these because, quite frankly, they’re frivolous. For example, one of them was a complaint against the TV volume in our unit, but our TV was broken at the time and we only have one TV.”
“Yesterday was especially frustrating. I was using the aforementioned pool, not only because I wanted to, but because it was my duty to test the quality yesterday afternoon.”
“The neighbors also came along with their children. I had no issue with this whatsoever and continued to use the pool.”
“A few minutes after they were done putting down their stuff, the woman came to me and said, ‘Excuse me, only people who live here are allowed to use the pool.'”
“She said this in a tone like she assumed I didn’t know much English or as if I was dumb. I told her that I indeed live here and showed her that the key I used to get into the pool was on my chair.”
“She looked slightly annoyed but it was fine. I honestly didn’t care.”
“Then she went back to her chair(s) with her husband, I’m assuming, and started to very loudly talk about how ‘foreign’ and ‘dark’ I looked.”
“Honestly didn’t give a sh*t because it is true that I didn’t look white. However, it was insulting that they said it as if it was a bad thing.”
“I had to go eat lunch anyway, so I started to pack up my stuff and the woman asked why I was leaving so soon. I told her that I had to go make lunch for myself.”
“She then started to FOLLOW ME out, and I asked if she could stop following me. She asked ‘why are you so eager to get me off your back if you have nothing to hide?'”
“I then told her, once again, that I live here and she must be very entitled and, quite frankly, sheltered to assume otherwise just because of how I looked.”
“She then scoffed and told me that the landlord would hear about this.”
“I’m aware now that I shouldn’t have made the comment on race, I was just honestly very pissed.”
“AITA?”
Strangers on the internet were asked to declare one of the following:
- NTA – Not the A**hole
- YTA – You’re the A**hole
- NAH – No A**holes Here
- ESH – Everybody Sucks Here
Redditors believed the OP was not the a**hole in the situation.
“NTA. You need to contact your landlord to talk about the harassment you’re experiencing from this neighbor”.
“Her comments about you were racist and disgusting and her trying to follow and question you can’t be tolerated. You need to speak up ASAP!” – bagelwhore_x0
“She needs to be reported for harassing you, OP. She was super gross and racist.”
“She 100% knew what she was doing and why she was wary of you for no valid reason. Big ole racist right there.” – SusieSharesTooMuch
“Report her for harassment to the management and I’d have a report on file with the police too.” – Hilary_13
“Please also make sure to mention you are a minor, so it is an adult woman following and harassing a minor.” – NotYourSatellite
“A woman I don’t know was harassing me and following for me, a MINOR, when I wasn’t fully dressed” – Hilary_13
“NTA. And you should have made it about race.”
“Most people don’t immediately start hounding people at the pool when they have just moved in. She was making an assumption, and it was based on your race or age (or both).” – Cold-Tale9231
“NTA. You should have called her out on her racism, honestly.”
“The fact that she was heard complaining to her husband about the color of your skin, and then proceeded to follow you in the hopes of catching you lying just because you’re not white is absurd.”
“What you said was reasonable and mature compared to how others would react (I’m not sure I could be that mature in a similar situation).” – xxLostAngelxx
“NTA, and she was behaving in a racist manner. She made a judgement based on your looks and confirmed it by talking about how ‘foreign’ and ‘dark’ you looked. That is being racist.”
“I’d report her to the landlord and her attempt to follow you to your apartment. Inform your landlord you don’t want this lady knowing where you live due to fear of further harassment.”
“I’m part Cherokee and Iroquois, during the winter I look slightly darker than the average white person, while during the summer I’m dark.”
“I’ve been told to ‘go back to my country’ many times and my response is always ‘My ancestors were here before Columbus, maybe you should go back to yours if you can’t handle that.'” – naranghim
Overall, a majority of Redditors thought the OP’s comments implying racism were warranted, and they encouraged her to file a complaint against the neighbor for harassing a minor.
In an edit, the OP wrote the following update:
“This is my update on this situation. Like many of the comments suggested I went to my landlord, and she and I walked to the pool where she showed me that there was a camera near the entrance/exit area and that if the confrontation happened there, then it would have been recorded.”
“I told her that yes, it did happen there, so we went back to her unit and watched what was recorded yesterday, around the time I remembered leaving.”
“She and I both saw the confrontation, and while there was no audio, it was obvious what was going on based on body language. My landlord was livid and not only offered to help me file a complaint but also said that she would take it up with management tomorrow.”
“She then asked if she could save the video on her computer, as recordings are deleted after three days, and I said it was fine.”
“I’m not going to upload the recording because not only do I not have it but also I’m wearing a bathing suit in it and I’m a minor, so I don’t think its safe to post it on the internet.”
“My parents also know and are also upset about it. Thank you all again for encouraging me to talk to my landlord about it.”
We’re glad the landlord took the OP’s complaint seriously, and is taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again.