"My Karen neighbor, strikes again..."
This story is too crazy not to share. For context I (27F) live in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood, with my family (husband, kids, parents in-law). My husband's family, is Mexican.
We don't usually throw parties or have events but when we do, we always make sure that we are careful about how we do them. Especially with a MEGA KAREN, living directly across the street.
I don't usually refer to people as Karens, but this woman definitely earned that title. Now let me explain why...every year since we have moved into our house, she has threatened to call the cops, or tried to physically interfere with anything that we do at our house.
She has even impeded a police investigation out of pure spite towards us (I'll get to that in a minute). Point is, this woman hates everything we do with some serious passion. I don't even know her name, or any real details about her...But she has been deemed by us, and even some of the other neighbors as a Karen.
Got a kid's birthday going on? Nope not on her watch, she has threatened every year to have all of the kids birthday parties shut down, because and I hate to even quote this, "You don't belong here, you're too noisy." Yeah she's really gone that far with it. Keep in mind we don't get loud and rowdy because we don't invite anyone who isn't family, and the only rowdy ones would be the children.
There was one year that we had a Piñata for one of the boys, and she called the cops saying we were committing some sort of domestic violence, based on the sound of the kids going at the Piñata. Yeah didn't make sense to us either, and the cops got a good laugh out of it too.
And the year after that, she marched across the street and yelled at us, because she didn't like our choice of music (corridos, as well as kids music) BECAUSE IT WAS ALL IN SPANISH, AND THIS IS AMERICA! We think she's got some deep rooted issues there...
Fourth of July? NOPE, she'd shut the whole neighborhood down if she could. Now while I understand that some people do go too far with fireworks, we are not the kind to do so, main reason being that we always have children around and we value their safety as much as our own.
But last year, Super Karen, went as far as to turn her hose on full blast and spray us and our fireworks with water from across the street. She hates all kinds of fun apparently...
OH BUT WAIT, here's the worst part. Remember how I said she impeded an active police investigation? WELL, about 2 years ago we had an instance where someone broke into our cars in the middle of the night...we have security cameras that caught most of it.
HOWEVER, we did not have the right angle to catch the license plate number of the getaway car...can you guess who did? If you said the Karen, you'd be correct...We didn't even ask her, metro did because they could see that her camera pointed directly at our driveway!
They gave her the option to give them a copy willingly, AND SHE TOLD THEM TO GO SUCK AN EGG! Can't use her actual words but I'm sure you get the picture. Needless to say that we couldn't get justice for what happened thanks to her, but thank God for car insurance.
She is also the kind of person, who will walk super close to our fence with her little yappy dog...and antagonize our pitbulls on purpose (we can see her on the cameras), and then scream and pretend that she or her dog have been injured by one of our dogs. She also let's her dog poop in our yard and driveway when she walks by.
ANYWAYS, back to present times...SHE IS AT IT AGAIN! This weekend is my niece's 1st birthday, and we are hosting at our house. The last 2 days, there have been deliveries of tables/chairs/the bounce house, etc. That have been coming because we don't keep these things on hand, and we like to help our local small businesses by renting things from them.
But I kid you not, I saw the Karen, sitting on her front porch with her phone in hand and BINOCULARS, trying to get a really close look at what we're doing. She has already made a point of saying she'll call the cops on us...
And HOW DARE WE, rent a tent for the backyard, because it's such an eye-sore (We live in Vegas and it's hot as heck this time of year, we need shade). Safe to say she just hates everything we do. The party is tomorrow so I will keep y'all updated on her shenanigans!
Here's what people had to say to OP:
Icy-Sheepherder7718 said:
Take photos of her with her binoculars. Go to the police station, tell them you are having a children’s party, and that this woman causes trouble every time you have a party. Giving them a heads-up will show that you are anticipating problems with her, despite your best efforts.
icaydian said:
Maybe I'm showing my age, but in this story your neighbor sounds more like a Gladys Kravitz!
impostershop said:
Document everything and get a restraining order.
Belle-llama said:
Please make extra noise!
These-Associate4216 said:
Send her an invitation and wave at her boasting loudly how nice it is to see her every time you see her. Lots of “good morning” and “beautiful day isn’t it." She won’t know how to respond and maybe she’ll start hiding from those weird neighbors who keep wanting her to join in their heinous parties.
CEO_of_my_life said:
Your parties sound like they'd be fun. Maybe she wants an invite.
UPDATE:
As recommended, we did in fact alert the police ahead of time that our neighbor might try to call and cause issues. Apparently THEY WERE ALREADY MADE AWARE OF OUR PARTY!!! I was told there was an anonymous call made Friday night because someone saw us putting up the tent.
I explained to them that it was just going to be a 1st birthday party for my niece, and we got the tent for privacy and because of the heat (Vegas is brutally hot this time of year). They said they would make a note of this, and hopefully no issues would arise...
Boy were they wrong. We didn't have any cops show up...But we did have her decide to trespass on our property, and spy on us from the open gate that was used for everyone to get into the backyard. But we had a devious little idea for how to handle her...
Since we had a DJ, who btw was not playing anything super loud. We decided we'd have him announce that there was a special guest lurking around the entrance, and had him repeat this in Spanish so that everyone knew what was going on without alerting her....
And that he had a special song for her. What was the song you ask? Only the best for this particular Karen...we had him play "You're so Vain," by Carly Simon. She quite loudly yelled in anger, and then stomped away.
She also somehow managed to trip on one of my plants out front, which caused an entire meltdown of cussing and screaming as she stomped back to her house. Safe to say we won this time but I know she'll be back for revenge. I'll make sure to keep y'all updated if she returns!
Here's what people had to say about the update:
Only-Weird-4519 said:
She probably thinks that song is about her...
lgood46 said:
She’s definitely going to return to her antics. Something is wrong with her…
DifferentMethod8090 said:
Brilliant! Chef’s kiss. No notes! But I wish I had been at your not too loud party! Keep having fun! It really is the best revenge.
ny_dc_tx_ said:
Harass her back. Put out a no trespassing sign. If she’s on your driveway call the police. Press charges if she enters another party. Take video/pics of her with the binoculars. File charges that she’s stalking your family. Olay You’re So Vain every time she walks by your house. Set a camera to do it.
socsox said:
2 things I'd recommend:
1: Cease and Desist. You get a legal document making it known she's not welcome on your property and any further harassment will be reported to the police. If she can't behave, then the cops can do something then. Just make sure to go through the right procedures so it's iron clad.
2: additional security cameras. Easiest way to provide proof of her harassment. If you can get audi as well, that'd be helpful.
EbonyRazrQueen said:
Careful, she may try to file an insurance claim against your home insurance saying she was hurt on your property. Granted, you all have plenty of evidence showing she trespassed and has been an issue for years, but still just keep an ear out. She's unhinged.