Neighborhood Annoyances: Part Two

Before I continue with this "series", I do want to point out that the people/houses that I am now complaining about only comprise a small percentage of the folks that live here. But, because everyone else are so polite and well-behaved, these idiots just stand out like sore thumbs!

My next rant concerns the people that don't seem to mind old newspapers, bits of trash and rejected recycling items laying about their property.

Seriously, there are some houses where there the newspapers (still in the plastic bag) on or around the driveway have been there so long and run over so many times by their cars going in and out of their driveway that they are now a permanent fixture of the sidewalk.

Ok, so, they didn't ASK for The Durham News to be delivered every Saturday (for whatever reason, The N&O delivers one paper per household every Saturday whether you ask for it or not; pretty annoying when you are on vacation and have put a hold on your regular deliveries and you come home to piles of these dumb papers all over the place) but STILL. Pick them up and recycle them! Don't just leave the moldering away out there. I don't understand how folks can walk by day after day and just leave them laying there. Exteme laziness, I guess. Too hard to bend over; fat gut's in the way and all.

These same people are likely the ones that continue to put un-recyclable items into their recycling bins, such as pizza boxes or plastic-coated cartons. The recycling pick-up dudes have absolutely no qualms about taking these items out of the bins and throwing them on the guilty party's lawn. Ok, live and learn you dolts! Don't keep putting them in the bins week after week; and, pick the trash up off your yard! Seriously, some houses have misecellanous trash items in their yards for weeks before they finally either get picked up or they simply blow away into someone else's yard who DOES pick them up!

Along these lines, once the trash/recylcing people have come, put your trash can and recylcing bins AWAY! Don't leave them out by the curb for three or four days. Again, these people have to be driving by them as they pull in and out of their driveway. Hello? See me? PUT ME AWAY!

Very recently, there was an incident with one of the people that lives down the street from us with their Christmas Tree. Ok, so, Christmas was, like, six or more weeks ago and they were JUST putting the old tree out for the trash to pick up. Problem was, they waited too late and the trash folks had stopped picking up trees (I think the last Monday of January was the last tree pick up date in our neighborhood).

So, what did these people do?

They drug the tree across the street and threw it in a vacant lot in full sight of anyone walking or driving down the street. Not only was it unsightly, it was also a) not the proper way to dispose of THEIR tree and b) a potential fire hazard, given our drought conditions.

I ratted these folks out by contacting the HOA. They were sent a violation letter and told to property dispose of their tree.

This week, I noticed that they had drug it back across the street and left it in the vacant lot NEXT to their house and next to one of the construction trash bins. I guess they got lucky because someone disposed of it for them.

How lazy can people be?

I rant about this because, it only takes a few idiots like these to really bring down the look and feel of an otherwise very nice neighborhood. I wish there was a way to "vote them off the island"!

Mrs. B