No Second Chances
So yesterday, I had an incredibly important job interview. It was my final interview with my local police branch and if I passed this interview, then the past six months of training and tests would have been worth it, and I would be a full-time officer.
My interview was three hours long and I had a time slot for 10 am-1 pm. I had deliberately picked this time slot. I thought an earlier one would mean that there would be less chance of noise from any of my neighbors. 7:30 am, next-door neighbors’ music is on full blast.
No warning, so I was already startled from a rude awakening. This came after not being able to get to sleep until 3 am because the same neighbors were having a party. Less than four hours of sleep, and a three-hour interview coming up.
Safe to say I was not amused. However, I thought that I would give them the benefit of the doubt and give them time to turn it down. It got to 9 am and it was still going, and now the kids were screaming and running around outside, having to shout louder than the music just to be heard.
So I sent my neighbor a text, just politely asking them to turn the music down (not off), as I had my interview in an hour. It got to 9:30 am and I had had no reply and the music was steadily getting louder.
So I went and knocked on their door, and of course, they couldn’t hear me above the music, so I had to knock on their window and more or less felt like I was invading their home. It very much did not get better from there.
The wife answered, the same woman I texted, and she was oblivious to the fact that I had texted her. Unbelievably, she didn’t seem to think anything was wrong with the level of the music.
I asked if she would turn the music down, and she said that she would but she couldn’t stop her partner from turning it up again if he wanted to. They were having another party, apparently, as it was their son’s A-Level results day and he had done well. Oh, great.
I told her that as nice as that was, I had an important interview that I could not rearrange and could not afford to not get. Her response infuriated me. It was a shrug, and she said she would turn it down a bit.
Thanking her, I went back home and immediately noticed that the music had turned down a bit, so I was a bit happier. I set up in my kitchen/makeshift office, and sat down to wait 15 minutes until my interview started.
I could still hear the music and the screaming, but it was enough that I could drown it out. The interview was going well until about 10:30. And I think you can guess what happened. Music whacked back up to full volume, even louder than before. All of the neighbors’ doors and windows are opened.
The kids are screaming louder than ever, and everyone is now standing outside in the garden and talking loudly, right by my kitchen window. I tried not to let it get to me, but when I saw one of the guys doing the interview look confused and distracted, I knew that they could hear it too.
I immediately apologized and explained what had happened and said that I could move to another room and carry on. So I had to move from a proper office set up to my small and partially decorated, dark living room.
The interview went ahead, but I couldn’t focus properly as all I could feel was their music thumping, and I was now getting a migraine. I had to ask them to repeat questions numerous times and I just couldn’t drown out the music and screaming.
The interview finished at 1 pm and at 1:15 pm, it suddenly went silent from next door. The whole family and their friends (there were about 20 people there altogether), left the house at the same time. They 100% did it on purpose.
Then I got horrible news. I just found out this morning that I did not pass the final interview, and I have to wait six months before I can apply for the position again. And to rub more salt into the wound, I have to do all of the tests and interviews (that I had already passed), all over again.
I have appealed the decision and have further explained the circumstances, so hopefully, they are lenient. I’m planning on confronting my neighbors today, after I’ve calmed down.
Story credit: Reddit / ForgottenOutlander