Last week, a 72-year-old man in Toronto was charged with 30 counts of mischief for slashing his neighbour’s tires. The man, head of the area’s neighbourhood watch, was trying to prove a point—no parking on the street—but instead, ended up proving a deeper truth: neighbours, like siblings, don’t often get along.
Mention a rotten neighbour and everyone can relate; we all know what it’s like to live next door to a noisy, thoughtless, destructive family, which is why rottenneighbor.com has become so popular.

The website is gaining traction as the newest way to vent against your neighbour and engage in name-calling, yelling and other adult activities. There are better, more thoughtful ways to deal with the people next door, but then again, when faced with unreasonableness, nothing beats a little venting.

Posts entitled “attack dog” and “get a life, nosey neighbor” litter the discussion boards, but don’t seem to result in much else. There was a time that borrowing a cup of sugar was the norm, but now it seems for this, like everything else, we need some help. eHow’s instructions may prove some guidance, but perhaps trying to talk to your neighbors can be just the key. Who knows, you may even find that you’re both driven crazy by the guy across the street.