A crazy neighbor threatened me with police

[Manaaja]

Yesterday someone suddenly ringed the doorbell like crazy. I didn't open the door, but they dropped a note saying (or rather yelling): "THIS IS THE LAST WARNING! I HAVE LISTENED TO YOU WALKING FOR HALF A YEAR NOW! IF YOU DON'T IMMEDIATELY STOP WALKING, I'LL FILE A POLICE REPORT AND ALSO COMPLAIN ABOUT YOU TO THE PROPERTY MANAGER WITH OTHER NEIGHBORS!". (Yes, it was in all caps, printed on a paper.) (Btw, I haven't received any previous notes or warnings, so that "LAST WARNING" part was also pure threatening.)

I got pretty scared, especially considering the tone of that note and that there lives a lot of crazy people here. So I went to sleep at parents's place last night. Today I went to the property manager/landlord. I showed the note and explained the situation, and they understood me, and agreed that the complainer seemed to be crazy and that they should "move to the woods, if they can't accept the fact that people have a right to walk inside their own apartment". They even promised to contact the crazy neighbour and tell them that if they want to complain about something in the future, they should directly contact the property manager/landlord instead of threatening other people.

But I'm still scared. What if I meet the crazy person in the hallway? Or what if they show up at the door again? The way the note was written was pretty threatening, so I fear they might be violent.

Also, there's the problem that sounds echo and travel around a lot in this building, you can't tell exactly where a sound comes from. Even while I write this I can hear a lot of walking sounds, but I can't tell if they come from an apartment that's to my right, or from right below me or from the apartment that's next to them, or someplace else. So even if I stopped walking and learned to fly, that crazy person could still hear someone else walking, think it's me, and do something crazy.

PS: Despite all of this being really scary, I still get a slight chuckle when I imagine them going to the police station and complaining: "My neighbor walks! Go and arrest them!".

 

[Jon]

Hehe just keep chuckling. It's the best (and only) remedy to deal with people like that. If you're female and genuinely concerned about his sanity, report the letter yourself to the police.

 

[Schopenhauer]

I know you're actually worried, but this situation is quite funny. The person actually wants you to stop walking??!!

If you're a woman, you should wear high heels inside the apartment. Blow his mind away :)

 

[jaemus12]

I dare you to start running in your apartment. You granted their request of not walking.

In all seriousness though, I'm glad the landlord understood you. Hopefully that gets dealt with or the crazy idiot just had nothing else better to do that day. If they do become violent then there's nothing wrong with you playing dirty. A solid kick in the balls or vagina should do the trick.

 

[satou]

I had some neighbour call to my room once using the intercom at the entrance to my floor. It was the middle of the night and it woke me up. She started ranting about me playing music too loud. I told I didn't have a sound system and she said I was lying. To which my response was that she could come over and see for herself. She refused but continued basically insulting me. I called her a crazy **** and hung up.

It still bothered me since I had no clue where this person lived and being falsely accused is annoying. And I'm occasionally prone to mild paranoia so that isn't good for me. Fortunately I wasn't bothered again.

 

[Justanotherconsumer]

Hmm maybe a pogo stick is in order.

 

[Manaaja]

Sorry for my late reply! I have been in a bad condition the last few days, busy worrying what the crazy neighbor will do next (or if they will do nothing). They haven't done anything else, luckily. Maybe the landlord did manage to speak sense to them (though I'm not 100% certain if they have even talked to them yet, and I don't know if they will inform me when they do).

Thank you for all the replies!

Yeah, jumping on a pogo stick and all the other suggested methods could be fun.

But in reality, though, I'm a quiet and withdrawn person in real life, and I would much rather act on the principle "I won't bother you, so don't bother me". Of course, it's hard when people still find a bone to pick with you...

I'm still kind of annoyed that if the person downstairs really had a problem with my steps (the floors and walls are on the thin side after all), why couldn't they just ask me to buy a rug? Or better yet, suggest a floor renovation? After all, even if I was driven away from this apartment, the next person who would live in this apartment would also walk thus they would still hear walking.) Ah, I shouldn't think logically, after all, some people wouldn't recognize logic even if it hit them in the head.

I actually showed the letter to my psychologist, and like some of you, he also suggested that I could go to the police, but I don't know how seriously the police would actually take me...

@jaemus12: I have some martial arts experience and I do tend to get physical (when I was a kid, I honestly wanted to become a gladiator, haha), and thus I wish I could kick them, but this country's laws are the worst. This is not the USA. There was a case, where an armed burglar broke into a shopkeeper's house in the middle of the night threatening to kill his whole family and steal all the goods, but the shopkeeper had a gun himself, and shot the burglar in the leg. The shopkeeper was arrested for murder attempt, I kid you not.

@satou: That's awful. She clearly was out of her mind, complaining for complaining's sake. Good to hear she hasn't bothered you since. I hope you'll never hear from her again. Yes, being falsely accused is really annoying, and not knowing who the one accusing you, is too.