Woman’s response to neighbour’s garden mess ‘makes life worth living’

A woman opted to take the “petty” route when dealing with a neighbour who kept deliberately making a mess in her garden. Maintaining peaceful relationships with neighbours is important – after all, it’s harder to avoid someone while living in such close proximity to them.

Most people don’t want to endure conflict, confrontation or awkwardness while trying to rest and relax at home but sometimes, certain bad habits and behaviours make it unavoidable. One woman chose to get “petty” after asking her neighbour to stop deliberately blowing all the leaves from his garden into hers.

In a post on Reddit, titled “Neighbour keeps ‘accidentally’ blowing his leaves into my yard, so I returned the favour’, she explained she lives in a “pretty leafy” neighbourhood so maintenance is essential to stop gardens and driveways becoming too built up with leaves.

She said: “My neighbour, though, has this monster of a leaf blower (like, the kind landscapers use) and for some reason he insists on blowing all his leaves straight into my yard.

“Every time, no shame about it either. We don’t even share a fence. He just walks right up to the edge of his property and lets it rip like it’s totally normal.”

Keen to prevent this, she approached him and “nicely” asked him if he’d be able to ensure this stopped happening, but he simply told her: “Well, the wind just carries them that way anyway.”

She joked: “My guy… you are the wind.”

At her wits’ end, she recently decided to take the “petty” route. She said: “So last week I waited until he finished, then I calmly raked up every single leaf and dumped them back in his driveway. Didn’t say a word.

“Just made eye contact the whole time like it was the most casual thing in the world.”

She then added: “He hasn’t touched the leaf blower since. It’s been four blissfully quiet days. I think I broke his spirit a little. Petty? Maybe. But honestly, I’m sleeping better than I have in weeks.”

In the comments section, people were keen to share their thoughts. One person simply said: “Well done”.

To which, another replied: “Right? Life’s too serious as it is. A little bit of petty just adds some spice. Plus, it sends a message that you won’t just sit back and take it. Keep doing you!”

A third said: “Hell yeah! I f***ing hate leaf blowers.”

And someone else added: “I like petty. It makes life worth living.”

Others suggested leaving the leaves, as they’ll eventually blow away or decompose on their own. In response, one person explained: “Sometimes it seems like every leaf on the block ends up piled against my garage door. It’s just the way the wind blows.

“They eventually get into the garage, where cave crickets lay their eggs in the leaf litter.

“We don’t live in a forest. Just an ordinary ‘quarter acre lots’ neighborhood. So, yeah. I clear away leaves.”