Sometime between 2005 and 2010, we lived in a neighborhood where the homes were close together and the noise carried a lot.

Right next to us there was a family with a teenage boy who loved loud rap music and had an attitude that was somewhere between teen boy and asshole. In the years we were there we frequently needed to ask him to turn the music down.

One evening, he was outside with his friends and the music was so loud it was shaking my windows. I could practically feel the base in my floor. My son was trying to sleep so I opened the window and asked politely if he could please turn it down. He just looked at me for a moment before rejoining his friends in their conversation. A few minutes later I opened the window and politely asked again. Same result. The next time, I told him he needed to turn it down or I would call the police. I didn’t want to but he was keeping us awake.

He and his friends went in the house and continued the loud music. I sat for a few minutes, frustrated and not wanting to call the police for a stupid noise complaint. They have bigger issues to deal with. I decided to Google their phone number to see if his mother was home. I was able to find the number so gave him a quick call. Here is how the conversation went.

Me: Hi. It’s your neighbor. Can you please turn down your music? We are trying to sleep.

Him: Fuck you! How did you get my phone number??

Me: I looked it up on the internet.

Him: That’s bullshit! We don’t even have a computer.

I had no words. None! I looked at my phone for a few seconds then hung up. Maybe he couldn’t turn the music down because he didn’t know how???