Neighbours behaving badly
SOMETIMES we get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time and simply have to deal with the consequences. But there are also times when we are where we should be, and end up suffering just the same. Living with or close to other people is all about establishing and respecting boundaries, but sometimes there’s no avoiding overhearing others in the throes of intimacy.
Below readers share their most disturbing experiences.
Joshua:
At university I always had to listen to my flatmate’s erotic couplings at night because of how vocal he was. I snickered at first and thought, “Yow, mi don, yuh large,” but it got out of hand when it began affecting my study time due to the clinking and clanking of furniture that came with the mating.
Ricardo:
I’ve heard my parents getting on bad, and that was in my adult years. It was not the best experience. It was just odd and horrific. I know they must have sex because they had five of us, but hearing it is something I’d give up if I had the chance to relive that moment.
Orville:
When I was about 16, I was by my aunt’s house and I have an older female cousin who was about 26 at the time. Well, her boyfriend was there and I vividly remember being in the living room with my aunt, uncle, and other cousins, when there was this ear-splitting scream followed by moans. I looked at my aunt and uncle — her parents — quite questioningly, and their response was, “Oh, get used to that. She’s a big person.” Then my uncle told me I should listen and learn because at 16 I should’ve scored a few runs already. At the end of it all I felt like my innocence was shredded.
Thomas:
We had a family get-together in Hanover. We were playing a few group games and no one missed my sister and her husband until we heard odd, continuous squeaking sounds upstairs. My very weird cousin went up there and figured out what it was, didn’t tell us, but called us all upstairs. When we got closer to the sound we realised what was happening. Some stayed, but myself and other relatives went back downstairs. The end result was that we continued with our games and when they came down we tried our best to act like they were there in the midst of the games all along.
Sherelle:
When I lived in an apartment complex I had a neighbour who lived with his girlfriend. They would have sex every night and it was very loud, especially when his girlfriend was near her climax. Being that it’s an apartment complex, obviously everyone would be hearing and knowing exactly what they were doing. Well, one night the entire complex got the laugh of their life as another neighbour who obviously had had enough went across the block and rang their doorbell. We heard the “ding-dong”, then heard the man saying, “Can’t you tone it down? We have children and we are trying to sleep. This is not a dormitory with only young adults.” I sat in my house dumbstruck, but I laughed and cringed for them. For a few weeks they just went in and out without saying anything to anyone. A few days later the girlfriend saw me and asked if the noise was really that loud. I told her “Yes” and she said she would have appreciated it better if someone had stopped her when she was driving out and said something rather than to do it in the way the other neighbour did.
Anastascia:
While living on campus my flatmate and her boyfriend were doing the deed one night and while trying to sleep all I could hear was her pleading to the rhythm of his movements for him to go slower. I had to take up my stuff and head to the library for some peace and quiet.
Roberta:
While heading to work one morning I heard a constant thud coming from next door. As soon as I realised what was happening I hopped in my car and drove out as quickly as possible. I felt as if I could open my head, take out my brain and ears, and wash them of the memory.
