A resident has shared their frustration over a problematic neighbour, who they’ve dubbed a “Karen”, refusing to address the issue of billowing smoke from a pizza oven.
Despite attempts to reason with the neighbour, a formal complaint was lodged by the so-called “Karen”.
In a post on the r/NeighboursfromHell Reddit page, the original poster described how their room was left “smoky as hell” due to their neighbour’s cookout.
Initially dismissing it as a minor inconvenience and asking the neighbour to be more considerate in future, the situation escalated when “Karen” filed a complaint with the landlord.
This escalation didn’t sit well with the resident, who was left clearing smoke out of their room. They asked the forum: “How do I deal with Karen next door?”
“The people next door did a barbecue right below my window and when I came home, my room was smoky as hell. I went up to them and asked if they were running a smoker because I was mostly worrying if they were going to run it for hours, and they said it was a pizza oven.
“I told them that they were doing it right below my window and my room was full of smoke, and they said they cant control the wind and they weren’t being confrontational at the time. So, I said ‘fine’ and came back to my room.
“A week later, I got a call from my landlord that my neighbour (the mother of the person that I talked to) complained to him that I was harassing them over barbecue.
“I explained to my landlord what actually happened and he told me that my neighbour went up to his wife in the morning and made a whole scene about it. I didn’t really mind the neighbours until then. Little did I know there’s a f***ing Karen next door.”
Members of the public have since put forward several courses of action which could serve as a satisfying way to deal with the neighbours from hell.
One person suggested: “Totally ignore them and never speak to them again. If everything you do is going to be reported to your landlord, what’s next, call the cops? What’s wrong with people?”
“And you must remember this atmosphere when it’s time to renew the lease and decide to stay or go.”
Not everyone was satisfied with this response though, and proposed it was not a matter of sitting and waiting to leave.
Another person suggested: “Prepare to use a window fan to blow the smoke back in their faces when they do it again.”
A third shared: “Video record every encounter with the Karen clan from now on. Make it known that recording is happening. Sometimes just doing that can curtail the antics from happening.”