Tribolum.com Making Light of Things

Despite having spent most of my life in crowded Singapore, I’ve never had neighbours like I do now. Sure, we’ve had the violin-playing cyclist before the ones we have now, but he knew when it was appropriate to practice.

Our neighbour parks his car outside his door (just next to ours). He opens the trunk of the car and its door and turns on the rap. This genius doesn’t use a home stereo system to listen to music - he turns his car stereo up loud enough so he can enjoy from his room. In the meantime our windows vibrate as his shows off his subwoofer.

Having endured more than enough of this, I went up to his room and asked him to turn it off. I told him that I was sick of having to listen to this almost every night.

He almost did as I asked before he hesitated. “I dun do dis ever’night. I just got m’car back”.

Technically, he was correct. My sister and I did enjoy the first few weeks of school in relative peace. We had, however, endured all of last semester and weren’t about to give up the silence we had come to enjoy.

He sat back in his chair and said,

“You come back and ask me nicely. Dun be coming up with all the bullshit about me doin’ dis ever’night.”

If I were younger and brash I would have picked a fight from where I stood. Sure, I could have been beaten up, but that didn’t never stop me before. Now, older and somewhat wiser (or just more tired) I went back into my apartment and informed the police.

They never came. The noise finally stopped when the neighbour went out for the night.

Pride is a dangerous drug. I might have looked like I was humbled tonight, but I’m glad I didn’t take to arms.