Common Decency

Today started out as any other Saturday would. Sleep in - chill in my jammies for a while - have breakfast - do laundry - endure band practice.... Yes, band practice. My little brother plays drums in a band and they practice at our house - in the shed to be exact. So - nothing is abnormal - I mean, they've had this band for almost a year now, and since the drums aren't exactly mobile - they practice at our house! The difference was - the neighbor behind us called and ripped us a new one! He said that he and his family had been putting up with my brothers "phase" for 8 months now and they're sick of it. And not only that - but lots of other neighbors are sick of it too and they need to find a new place to practice. Now, I can see if we had received numerous calls over the past year - but seriously - we've received ZERO!!! NOT ONE! Nobody has ever complained - wait, scratch that - the neighbor across the street complained that they didn't play more classic rock! But never another complaint. The police were called a few weeks ago and they came out and said that it wasn't that loud - afterall it's a garage band! Anyway, the boys moved it from the garage into the shed (which is attached to the back of the garage) and as a procautionary measure - they put carpet on the floor, the ceiling, and all the walls to keep the sound inside the room, rather than outside and it has been SO nice! But apparently the neighbors can't handle it - well, one of them at least. Normally I wouldn't complain because I know it's annoying and they aren't invested in the band at all - I'm not really either - but it's my brother and he did write a song about me.... But the thing that really pisses me off, is that they haven't said anything until now! Maybe it's because it's winter - or maybe he just had a serious herpes flair up.... I don't know - but as far as I'm concerned - he should grow up! If he has had a problem with it for the past 8 months why hasn't he said anything to us? Not one complaint - seriously! And not only that - but if "other neighbors" are mad about it too - why don't they say something to us, instead of talking about it to each other! What grade are we in? Oh right - we're all adults! Or so I thought! The sad thing is - immediately I wanted to just be mean and petty. We don't complain when their damn rotten apples fall from the tree into our backyard - No, we just pick them up and throw them away. We don't complain when their grape vines overtake our entire back fence.... we just tuck them over the the fence back onto their side. But who knows, maybe this year I will decide to cut the parts that hang over and spray the ends with Roundup. Or maybe i'll throw their rotten apples back over the fence - I mean, i've never complained about it in the 8 years we've lived here - but really - i'm on my last nerve and can't handle it anymore. It's time to get rid of the tree! Why can't people show some common decency and just talk to us about it before they get all pissed about it! I don't get it? We're not mean people - Okay, my parents aren't mean people - they won't be rude and sabotage your grapevines or apple tree..... Really, I'm glad the band has to rent out space somewhere else to practice because if I have to hear the song about D and I one more time - I'll have to strangle their singer! But let's be adults and talk about it before it really becomes a problem.... Seriously, it's just common decency!