I'm mildly uncomfortable- call the cops!

[bammertheblue]

This is another story from *Nut House* Apartments. The building was right across the street from a nice city park, with a playground, trails, picnic area, and a large soccer field. The following took place on a Saturday, around 1pm (This is important).

Me=me
SC= Sucky Resident

-Phone rings-
Me: Thanks for calling *Nut House Apartments*, this is bammertheblue, how may I help you?
SR: This is Mr. SR in apartment 1017 and I need to report something. There is a soccer game across the street and someone is announcing the game with a loudspeaker! It is SATURDAY and this is disturbing me! I want you to do something about it!"
Me: "I'm sorry. I can't hear it from where I am. Could you hold for a moment while I look across the street and see what's going on?"
SR: "You can't hear it? It's SO LOUD! Okay, I'll hold."

-I go outside. From the way he was complaining, I was expecting to see some huge loudspeaker setup and hear a huge racket. What I see is a normal soccer game, and a man with one of those small hand-held amplifier things, doing some announcing. Yes, it was louder than usual, but not that much. I come back to the phone-

Me: "Thanks for holding. I can hear it when I go outside, but to be honest I don't think there's anything I can do about it, because they are on the field and not on our property. I'm sorry."
SR: "Call the police!"
Me: "I can't do that. I'm sorry. If you feel you need to call the police, that is up to you, but I can't call them for this reason."
SR: "I'm not calling them! I want YOU to call them! I work 80 hours a week and it is SATURDAY and they are DISTURBING me! I pay $XXXX in rent to live here!"
Me: "I'm sorry that you are disturbed, but I really cannot call the police."
SR: "FINE!" -Hangs up-

In review:
1) The soccer people were on the soccer field, playing soccer. They were not on our property. I have absolutely no control over them.
2) Yes, someone was using a small megaphone type thing, but it was NOT that loud. I could not hear it from anywhere inside the building. He must have been sitting on his balcony, which faced the field. Of COURSE he's going to hear it!
3) I am NOT calling the police over that. I've only called the police twice on the job- once because some people were stuck in an elevator (called fire department, actually), and once because a resident we had evicted was back on the property, trespassing, and threatening me. I am not calling the cops because you think the soccer game is too loud.
4) Like you said, it's Saturday. Afternoon. A perfectly reasonable time for a soccer game. It's not like it's 3 am here.
5) You fail in general.

[Mnemjian]

Maybe he was pretending the soccer field was his lawn? And he wanted them off said lawn? Or maybe he was just angry that people were having fun and he was sitting there being a miserable old bag.

[gaspode]

Me: "I'm sorry that you are disturbed, but I really cannot call the police."

that just about sums him up

[laundryhater]

What a douche!

He must have known there was a soccer field across from the apartment building before he signed a lease to live there because those kinds of things are hard to miss. It's a large green grassy area that looks like people would play sports there.

He's just looking for something to complain about.

Our local newspaper did a whiny story a while back about some rich douchebags who moved into some fancy upscale apartment buildings downtown. They were complaining about the train noise. Waah, waah! You stupid idiots! How do you not notice the train tracks that are very close to said building? You're even stupider for not realizing that (gasp) TRAINS MAKE LOUD NOISE when they pass.

Rich doesn't always = smart.

[bammertheblue]

Yes, he was quite a piece of work. A couple of weeks after the soccer game incident, he called me freaking out again because his upstairs neighbors were "dropping things" on their floor. He then proceeded to go on a rant about how it was so stupid of the building managers to put hardwood floors in an apartment building because carpet muffles sound, and if they had carpet up there he wouldn't be hearing them "dropping things". He pulled the "I work 80 hours a week and it's the WEEKEND and I am DISTURBED!" routine again, too. Dude, I understand working a lot and wanting to relax on the weekend, but seriously? Choose your battles.
I actually went up to his neighbor's apartment, just to check, because he was really irate. Their noise crime? They were moving a TV set and setting up some wiring for an entertainment center. Thank goodness they were nice when I came knocking on their door asking if they were "dropping things".
It's funny now, but at the time I wanted to smack that guy.

[Ljt09863]

wow. thats just crazy. i actually live a decent distance from the nearby high school, but because there is this huge field between it and the apartments i live in, when they have football games, i can clearly hear them announce it when im inside the apartment. it isn't a big deal. its a football game. not some wild party with a bunch of underaged kids drinking and being loud.

[Difdi]

When I moved into my current apartment, one of my new neighbors started filing noise complaint after noise complaint about me. You'd think the manager would have twigged sooner that something was wrong with the complaints, since the neighbor is deaf.

[Cia]

When I moved into my current apartment, one of my new neighbors started filing noise complaint after noise complaint about me. You'd think the manager would have twigged sooner that something was wrong with the complaints, since the neighbor is deaf.

Those complaints would make an interesting read.

[jerkface11]

Geeze during the summer i can hear a rodeo at night and it isn't that close.

[Toujin]

Either this guy was just looking for an excuse to complain, or his hearing is like that of a bat.

I live about a mile or so from a railroad crossing, and I can still hear the trains when they go by. I don't mind them, since the sound is quite distant and not loud enough to bother people. But I always wonder how the people who live near the railroad tracks can sleep at night.

[infinitemonkies]

Either this guy was just looking for an excuse to complain, or his hearing is like that of a bat.

I live about a mile or so from a railroad crossing, and I can still hear the trains when they go by. I don't mind them, since the sound is quite distant and not loud enough to bother people. But I always wonder how the people who live near the railroad tracks can sleep at night.

A few years ago I worked in a restuarant that was right beside the fire department, and I lived a block away from the hospital. I heard sirens all day and all night. Pretty soon you just tune it out.... Then one day I was heading home and came very very close to stepping right in front of a speeding ambulance 'cause I hadn't noticed the siren

[Canarr]

I live about a mile or so from a railroad crossing, and I can still hear the trains when they go by. I don't mind them, since the sound is quite distant and not loud enough to bother people. But I always wonder how the people who live near the railroad tracks can sleep at night.

Apparantly, you get used to it. I have friends who own a small weekend-home in a gardening colony close to the train tracks. They have trains coming by every 45-90 minutes, and it's CLOSE. So, whenever we're out visiting them, sitting in their garden with a coffee and conversation, and a train passes by, they'll just stop talking, wait for the train to pass, then pick up their sentence right where they left off, without missing a beat.

It always gets me how people will purchase homes close to train tracks or stations, airports, industrial areas (where, of course, the property values are lower than elsewhere), and then turn around to complain about the noise!

[protege]

Damn. This reminds me of the old guy who once lived behind my parents. Nearly every day, he'd come over and bitch about the noise from the kids playing in our yard. That's what you get when you move to the 'burbs, you old fool! He really was a miserable old bastard, and nobody shed tears when he finally passed on.

If people bitch about the train noise during the day...I'm sure they had a blast during the night. Years ago, I'd always hear the horns at night--both the Montour and N&W (Norfolk & Western, now Norfolk Southern) ran coal trains not far from me. Not often, but usually at night. Even now, the Wheeling & Lake Erie...runs over the same line at night. Oh, and the W&LE is actually running *more* trains on that line!

[Metody]

If you line all surfaces in a room with very heavy shag carpeting - this will require some impressive nails for things like ceilings and walls - you can pretty effectively soundproof the room. This goes doubly if you put egg crate foam beneath it. You will have to cover any windows as well, though I'd advise putting up boards first.

Whether or not someone will want to live in said shag paradise is another matter. But it works.

[Lala]

This makes me think of the people who move downtown in nearby city and then complain about the music. Now, they have a legitimate complaint if the noise ordinance is being violated; but if you move to the center of the “Live Music Capital of the World”, with all the bars and clubs, there’s going to be some noise. Move somewhere else.