Man Sick Of Children On His Lawn Takes His Response Way Too Far
As a kid, you were probably scarred by a neighbor yelling at you to get off his or her lawn. Yet as an adult, you’ve probably at least been tempted to shout away a few trespassing kids yourself. Well, one Virginia man shouted so much, that he had no choice but to try something different.
Every morning, local children caused a disturbance outside his house. But, no matter how he addressed the problem, the kids kept coming back. So finally, the frustrated man tried a new solution so extreme that the authorities were called in…
By 2018, Bryan Tucker of Sandston, Virginia felt like a caricature of an old man: he spent his mornings shouting at kids to get off his lawn and devising methods to best send the message.
See, Bryan lived behind a bus stop where young kids waited for a ride to elementary school. Those kids played loudly on his well-maintained yard, and worse, they often left behind trash.
"They don't respect other peoples' land," Bryan said. So he called the county, and "they refused to do anything about it. They said it was my responsibility if the kids get hurt on my land."
So Bryan put up no trespassing signs. He installed cameras on his property. He incessantly asked the children to stay off his lawn. He even asked the parents to keep the kids off the lawn. Nothing worked.
As the new school year approached — and with visions of liability lawsuits dancing in his head — Bryan launched a plan he hoped would finally end the trespassing problem.
On the first day of school, parents bringing their kids to the bus stop saw a new addition to Bryan's home: a fence wrapped all the way around his yard. Then a parent touched the newly erected fence...
...and felt a shock! Shaking his hand from the sting of the shock, the parent understood the new addition to Bryan's yard — an electric fence! And he wasn't the only one to realize it.
"My daughter walked out and said 'he's got a fence up,'" another neighbor said. "Then someone said it was electric and I said 'whoa no!' If something happens to one of those kids they're going to have a lot of angry parents."
Local parents banded together in outrage, but each parent was bothered by a different aspect of Bryan's countermeasure. It bothered concerned parent Wayne Milby, for instance, that Bryan didn't put up a warning sign.
But Bryan showed news crews that there was indeed a sign... 15 yards away from the bus stop. It was slapped on the battery that powered the fence and read "Solar Intellishock." It had pictures of cattle on it.
Other parents noted that, while the shock wasn't painful, it sent the wrong message; "I understood his concern," one neighbor, below, said. "I just don't think he understood the neighbors' concerns."
As one parent put it: "The first day of school, really? C'mon now." The timing made the fence feel more malicious than a genuine protective measure. So neighbor Wayne offered an alternative solution for Bryan...
"You know, a regular fence," Wayne said, probably would've worked just fine. Frustrated with Bryan's fence, neighbors called the county police at 9:15 a.m. that morning.
That same day, Henrico County Public Works Director Steve Yob arrived at Bryan's house to inspect the fence and measure the yard. But if the fence was on Bryan's property, it was completely legal.
Steve's findings? Engineers took measurements and did research, he said, "and [Bryan's] yard starts further off the road from where the fence is. Where that fence was put is clearly county right-of-way." In other words...
Bryan had to take down the fence because it wasn't technically on his property. He did so without a fight. He "made a mistake and offered to correct it," Steve said. But Bryan wasn't giving in just yet...
In truth, Bryan didn't anticipate that parents and the community as a whole would be so outraged by the fence. But he was happy the fence started what he called an important conversation.
"The message has gotten across, I'm pretty sure, to everybody," Bryan told the local news. "It's all over social media. Neighbors are driving by, parents are posting and talking about it."
It's unclear whether Bryan took the fence down permanently or just moved it back, but parents hoped he'd take after the house's previous tenant and just put out a trash can for the kids.
Either way, with the word out there, Bryan could give his vocal cords a rest from yelling at kids to get off his lawn! And, more importantly, hopefully, the neighborhood kids could get to school without getting shocked!
Neighbors like Bryan can make your block feel practically unlivable, but they always seem to find a way to squeeze into our communities. So when a bad egg moved into a Florida neighborhood, one man decided to 'welcome' him in a very dramatic way.
Seventy-nine-year-old Oliver Lynch had been living in his Osceola, Florida, neighborhood for roughly 25 years, and he was the kind of person who wouldn't let anybody push him around.
"I just hate to be bullied," he said in an interview. "I have a little fight left in me, and I hate to see somebody bulldoze over me," he continued.
One day, Oliver discovered that a new neighbor was using an empty plot of land to build his home. Unfortunately, though, it became clear that they wouldn't get along.
It all started when Oliver got home and discovered that a long row of cinder blocks had been lined up down the middle of his driveway, with the neighbor now claiming that this piece of land actually belonged to him.
As if that wasn't bad enough, the neighbor had gone so far as to cement the bricks down on the ground! With no way for him to move the cinder blocks himself, Oliver knew that he had to take more drastic steps to resolve the issue.
Oliver was surprised—not to mention angered—by his neighbor's complete and utter passive-aggression. "What’s he going to do with these extra few yards of concrete?" Oliver recalled asking himself in disbelief.
With no way to immediately resolve the situation, Oliver had to find proof that the land his neighbor was trying to make his own actually belonged to him. He found records detailing the fact that he was entitled to two adjacent, 12-foot driveways.
Unfortunately, though, that didn't seem to be enough, because even with confirmation from Osceola County that the records were accurate, they couldn't change what had already been done. Oliver could either hire a surveyor or take his neighbor to court.
Oliver thought the idea that he'd have to take his new neighbor to court was totally ridiculous, so he decided to try to reason with his neighbor in person. Unfortunately, though, that didn't have the desired results.
Oliver also thought that his new neighbor was behaving hypocritically. "He said he was a minister or something like that," the homeowner explained. "[A] God-fearing man. But I don’t think that’s very Christian-like."
Feeling like he was running out of options, Oliver approached the county once again in the hopes that an official would give him the help that he needed. He knew that whatever happened, it wasn't going to be easy to approach his neighbor.
Oliver even went so far as to get in touch with the local media, and they decided to do a story on the struggle that he was facing. They even tried to contact the neighbor, but they weren't able to get a hold of him at all.
As one would probably imagine, the new neighbor came out looking pretty bad after his schemes were revealed to the public. Many echoed Oliver's complaints that the neighbor's actions weren't consistent with his supposed religious beliefs.
Other people took issue with the fact that not only was he being a bad neighbor, but that he was immediately making such a terrible impression. Why would he be such a bully instead of trying to ingratiate himself more with his new neighbor?
As much as Oliver had the public on his side, though, his stubborn neighbor still wouldn't budge one bit. Seeing as he didn't have many other ways around this situation, he decided to call the local WFTV station again.
It was after this next moment, however, that Oliver was finally able to make some progress. It took a long time for the two of them to talk, but eventually, Oliver got through to his neighbor.
He explained the situation and his records, and—to his great success!—they made peace with each other. Finally, the neighbor agreed to remove the cinder blocks!
Oliver later revealed that the new neighbor eventually admitted that he didn't actually intend to create such a scene. It appeared that, after all this trouble, the whole incident was little more than a misunderstanding.
Once Oliver made peace with his neighbor, many people who had been following the story and who had been siding with Oliver found relief. Even though the neighbor was in the wrong, they warmed up to the idea that the two men might finally be able to get along.
Despite how many people could be forgiven for holding a grudge against somebody who wronged them like that, the two neighbors getting along would certainly be preferable. They'll be living right next to each other for a while, after all! It just goes to show you how a little persistence—and proper communication—goes a long way.
They say you should keep your friends close and your enemies closer, but one Australian mechanic would strongly disagree. The young man, known on Reddit as AngryAussieGam3r, had neighbors that were making his life a nightmare.
After toiling away at work all day, AngryAussie was looking forward to a night out on the town with his mates. However, he spotted something in his apartment building's garage that immediately soured his good mood.
Some strange car had blocked him in! He waited around, hoping the driver left the vehicle there while making a quick drop-off, but AngryAussie was out of luck. With no other option, he had to call one of his friends to pick him up instead. Then things got worse.
In the following weeks, the rude car kept showing up at odd intervals, preventing AngryAussie from driving. He left a series of polite notes on the perpetrator's windshield, but he never saw any response or change in behavior. He couldn't believe this!
Frustration building, AngryAussie guessed that the driver was someone who repeatedly got drunk and conveniently "forgot" to move his car out of the way. It was a decent theory, but he had no hard evidence of how to identify this serial jerk.
AngryAussie came across countless examples of people responding to bad parking jobs on the internet. Unfortunately, this car owner didn't seem to respond at all to shame. The mechanic would have to apply a different strategy — and fast.
The rude neighbor was making him late on an unpredictable basis. He never knew when to expect the car to block him in, so he would often have to walk or hitch a ride without warning. And AngryAussie had one upcoming obligation he couldn't miss.
It wasn't often that he and his six closest friends could all get together, but they had a weekend getaway coming up that required AngryAussie's car. In order for the special trip to happen, he needed to make sure he wasn't parked in.
Hoping the proper authorities could take care of the problem, AngryAussie contacted his building manager. The guy refused to even address the problem, or even identify the car's owner, so the mechanic decided to get more serious.
When he found himself parked in yet again, AngryAussie called a towing company. Because his vehicle was up on the garage's third story, however, they would not accept the job. He would have to take matters into his own hands.
Not long before his big trip, AngryAussie searched through his auto shop for some tool to help him out of this jam. He smiled — a rarity in those days — as he came across just what he was looking for.
The morning of their big vacation, AngryAussie and his friends entered his garage to find the worst possible scenario. The jerk blocked his car again! Strangely, AngryAussie didn't lose his cool. He just ran upstairs and grabbed a strange metal contraption.
He explained to his pals that he borrowed a vehicle positioning jack. Its wheels and hydraulic pump would allow them to easily lift up a parked car and move it wherever they wanted. Rubbing their hands in glee, the friends got it in position.
As they boosted the car up, AngryAussie's eyes darted around the garage. While they weren't doing anything illegal — like stealing the car — it might not look that way to any security guards in the area.
Luckily, the coast looked clear. Moving as quickly as they could while pushing a two-ton car, the seven mates each got a handhold and started to heave it toward a distant, dark corner of the garage. AngryAussie's plan soon became apparent.
He found a spot at the end of the garage where they fit the rude neighbor's car perfectly in between the wall and a pillar. The owner would easily be able to enter or exit the car, but moving it would be another matter.
With only a few inches of space at the front and back of the vehicle, its driver would have a miserable time getting it out. Most likely, he'd have to angle it forward and backward a staggering number of times to pull it out of the spot.
Satisfied with their work, AngryAussie and his six friends jumped in his car and sped out of the garage. Each of them agreed they'd never had so much fun parking a car before. They were far from your typical valet service.
Even while enjoying his getaway, AngryAussie couldn't help but wonder about the jerk driver. How long would it take him to find his car? Would he even try moving it? Upon getting home days later, he immediately returned to the scene of the crime to check.
Understandably, the car was still there. But a few days later, the unimaginable happened: AngryAussie never saw the problem car again! Even though this clever mechanic got some revenge, there were still other villainous neighbors out there taking up space in the most evil ways possible.
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