Nightly Disturbance
My downstairs neighbor at my old apartment was most likely a dealer. He didn’t have a job, and cars would come by at all hours of the day or night, often honking loudly. He or his girlfriend would run out and chat with them for like five minutes and they’d leave. The slinging didn’t bother me, but the honking at all hours did.
It would wake my girlfriend and I up at all hours of the night. Frequently his clients and friends would be parked and taking up two spaces when I came home from work, throwing off our already crowded parking scheme. His own vehicle was parked in such a way that if he had moved a few feet closer to the house, we could have another spot.
But his car didn’t actually run, so he couldn’t move it. He then started dating a woman with like three kids, and when they were over they’d leave their bike and toys in the parking lot or in front of our steps so we’d have to dodge them in the morning. She had a small dog, and while she was usually good about cleaning up, she would still miss some piles from time to time.
Eventually, I had enough. I decided to pay him back in the pettiest way possible. Each floor paid for their own electricity, and I knew our downstairs landing light was on his circuit. It was an old incandescent bulb, not an energy-efficient one like we had at the top of the stairs and throughout our apartment.
After his friend took up two parking spaces for like, three days, I never turned that light off. It was probably costing him an extra 30 cents a month in electricity, but it mattered to ME.
Story credit: Reddit / lokigodofchaos