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08/14/2025

Today’s blog

Lynn Murphy Mark

Being neighborly

As I write this I can feel myself getting angry all over again at the people who live directly above us in our condo building. We have a very uneasy relationship with them as it is. We used to be friendly, but then life got lifey and that changed about a year ago. 

It all started at a Homeowners Association Meeting after Jan became the treasurer of our HOA. There have been some gifts from that job – mainly that Jan gets to use her awesome spreadsheet talents every month. She enjoys the company of her fellow board members and some good friendships have developed as a result.

The downside is that she gets unsolicited feedback when residents see her in the halls or in the parking garage. Occasionally she will get an irate phone call about something, usually trivial, that angers the caller. As it happens, our upstairs neighbor called yelling about something that she thought meant the end of the world. Jan was kept on the phone for over 10 minutes as the woman ranted loudly. Jan’s a lot more polite than I would have been because I would have hung up the phone after a minute of abuse.

In fact, this year has been a difficult one for the board of the HOA. There are a few folks who banded together to complain at every board meeting, so much so that the business at hand couldn’t be addressed effectively. Finally I’d had enough. I stood up at one meeting and said I wanted to remind everyone that the board is made up of volunteers, not paid employees. I said that I was a witness to how many hours Jan spends on the treasurer’s report. I also said she had been verbally harassed over the phone. I did not identify the woman upstairs, saying only that it was a resident.

The neighbors in question happened to be at that meeting. The lady rabble-rouser and her husband  looked shocked that I would mention the inappropriate behavior even though there was no way anyone would know it was them. From that time on, the friendly relationship morphed into them not speaking to us, and not making eye contact anymore if we happen to ride the elevator together. 

Our upstairs neighbors are heavy smokers, out on their deck puffing away at all hours of the day and night. Mollie, being a protective little dog knows they’re up there and growls and barks in their direction when I take her out. She is not held back by the bounds of politeness. She flat out doesn’t like them. Dogs are good judges of character.

Yesterday being Wednesday, I was at breakfast with Rose when a long string of texts began. Someone had set off the fire alarm so most of the building’s residents left the building and gathered on the courtyard outside. At first, no one knew where or if there was a fire, but very soon the fire department and the police department arrived. Someone in a neighboring building had spotted a fire on a second floor deck and called 911. Meantime, Jan noticed that there was debris falling on our patio from upstairs. She thought the neighbors were sweeping their deck. It’s not unusual for debris from them to fall on our patio. Out Jan went to check on what was going on. What she saw was 2 -3 foot flames burning the deck directly above our patio. She called 911 and was advised to pull the fire alarm to evacuate our building and to get out of our unit.

The fire alarm produced a piercing, shriekingly loud noise and most residents left the building. There were several very annoyed people because their morning had been interrupted. A few refused to leave their units. Go figure. 

The fire department responded quickly. The people upstairs were not home so their door had to be broken down in order to let the firemen in. They tried foam, which did nothing but coat our patio. Then they brought up a hose and hosed it down. By that time one of our patio chairs had caught fire.

To shorten this story I need to say that this whole debacle was caused by upstairs having left a smoldering cigarette behind when they left for the airport to catch a flight to Tampa. Said cigarette somehow lit the cheap plastic flowers that adorn the deck. The flames quickly spread on to the wooden deck boards and the rest is history. As a result, our patio is covered with debris and old foam and glass from the lights they had strung on the deck railing.

When upstairs was finally contacted, Mr. Upstairs sent Jan a text. “We will be home tonight. Sorry for the inconvenience.” That only served to annoy Jan to no end. So, the future of our non-existent relationship with Mr. and Mrs. Upstairs looks bleak. If you know Jan, you know that she will not let this go until our patio has been professionally cleaned, and our patio stuff has been replaced. You can count on this happening.