When my daughter was about 6 years old we were living in an apartment. It was a two-story unit sharing a wall with a neighbor, a grumpy old lady who stayed up late and slept during the day. We tried to respect her schedule and be as quiet as possible, but due to the building’s design a simple act of walking up and down stairs in our unit makes quite a lot of noise. Needless to say, a 6 y.o kid spent quite a bit of time running up and down stairs between her room and the living room.

The old lady was furious and regularly complained about the noise. She complained to the apartment management a few times and I was becoming worried that we could get expelled. One day, when she was particularly upset, she left a note at our door. A very nasty note using the F-word and more. That was her mistake.

It must be said that the apartment was trying to attract young middle-class professionals and trying to present themselves as upscale housing compared to others in the neighborhood. The next day, I put on my business suit and a tie and strolled into the apartment management office. I showed them the note and very politely expressed my surprise at the kind of people they were renting to. I said I was shocked by the language and glad my daughter had not found the note. I said I was considering moving out and basically made them feel like they were running a trailer park, not an expensive apartment complex. They were apologetic and talked to the old hag who stopped complaining after this incident. I got a new job and had to move out few months later anyway.