Dear Baba Rumcake,
My apartment walls are paper thin and my neighbor sleeps through and/or hits the snooze button from the break of dawn and it’s really getting on my nerves. Sometimes I work throughout the night and need as much sleep as I can in the morning. Sometimes the alarm goes off for hours then randomly hits snooze off and on. I left an anonymous note before but it hasn’t stopped. I wonder if the neighbors on the other side are just as annoyed. Suggestions?
Sleepless in my own home
Dear Sleepless,
Wear some friggin’ ear plugs. Put pillows on your head. Change apartments. You cannot go around telling other people how and what they can do in their own home. Move your room somewhere else. Sleep in the living room.
Or, simply go tell him. The simple solution is to tell your neighbor what is bothering you. Bake a few cookies and knock on the door and when he takes them say, “And by the way, your frikkin’ alarm keeps me awake.” Or something to that effect, you know.
If we have neighbors, they are called just that because they are the closest people we got in our living space besides mates, cats and other creatures. We need to be civil and kind to each other.
It will not be such a hardship to knock on the door and tell him. He cannot assume that your sensibilities are being hammered if you do not convey this to him. Obviously the alarm does not bother him. And it is his own bedroom.
Be nice. Just go ask politely. If you cannot bake, then buy some cookies and put them on a plate. Do the right thing instead of grousing.
Blessings on your connection,
Baba Rumcake