AITA for telling my new neighbours that I’ve been trapped in a basement for a week after she told me not to check my mail box on weekends?

A Reddit user shared a bizarre encounter with their new neighbor, who rudely told them not to check their mailbox on weekends (despite mail not being delivered then). Annoyed and hungover, the user sarcastically joked about being trapped in a basement for a week as a reason for checking their mail.

The neighbor, taking the comment seriously, called the police, who laughed off the misunderstanding after clarifying the situation. Later, the neighbor angrily confronted the user, calling them offensive names for causing unnecessary concern. To learn more about this unusual situation, read the full story below…

‘ AITA for telling my new neighbours that I’ve been trapped in a basement for a week after she told me not to check my mail box on weekends?’

I’ve been away since Thursday, house sitting for my mum, and it’s currently Sunday afternoon where I live. Here, mail doesn’t deliver on weekends, they only do that Monday to Friday, which means I had 2 days worth of mail in my mailbox.

My 30 something year old neighbours moved in on Friday when I wasn’t here, and she was in her front yard when I was collecting my mail. She goes “Don’t check your mailbox on weekends. They don’t deliver on weekends. So don’t check it.” (In a rude Karen voice, if you know then you know.)

Already, I know we’re not going to have a good neighbour relationship, and I’m hungover and can’t be bothered dealing with her s**t, so I said “I know, it’s just I’ve been kidnapped in the basement for a week so I had to check the mailbox.” I don’t have a basement, barely anyone does in my country.

She seemed shocked, but it was an obvious joke with my overly sarcastic tone. Then we both went inside and that was that. About 25 minutes later, the police knocked on the door thinking I was held captive in my basement which I don’t have, so I explained to them what I had said and they just laughed and left.

Just before, I was putting rubbish in the bin and she came out and called me a c*nt for making her think I was kidnapped. AITA?

These are the responses from Reddit users:

AFarCry −  NTA. Some people just need to mind their own damned business. Who cares when you check your mail? Also, some people just do not understand sarcasm. At least she cared enough to call the cops for you, though. Good thing they were cool about it.

[Reddit User] −  NTA there is nothing you could have done to predict or prevent that level of stupid.

Narkolleptika −  NTA – it’s an obvious joke. She called the police?! Karen needs to mind her own business

juniper_berry_crunch −  This neighbor is gonna be fun. Right off the bat she’s policing your mailbox use. Brace yourself for endless complaints about the length of your grass, noise level, &c. &c. &c. It never ends with people like this, so you may want to set aside a notebook to document the coming list of bitchery so that the next time the cops come by you have some context.

xohee −  NAH. You’re not an A-hole but her conscience probably wouldn’t let her sleep just in case you weren’t joking. To most it probably seems silly but better safe than sorry I guess.

EisForElbowsmash −  NTA – And make a point of checking it every Saturday and Sunday whenever you see them.

redheaddtit −  NTA. Did she seriously think you were let out of your basement just to check the mail? This is silly. Good luck with your new neighbor!

Medievalmoomin −  NAH ok, her tone of voice rubbed you the wrong way. You were hungover and not in the mood to have obvious things explained to you; maybe she might have been less annoying if your head had been clearer. In other circumstances, her shocked expression might also have clued you in that she didn’t get the joke.

Whoops! She did what would have been the socially responsible thing to do and now she’s embarrassed. Swearing at you for it was unnecessary. I think there was a bit of sarcasm and hostility which adds up to snark all round one way and another, but you *did* decide you weren’t going to get on and you treated her sarcastically off the bat, without making sure she realised it was a joke.

I wouldn’t necessarily have liked being told how to manage my mailbox, but there’s a bit of arseholishness in how you behaved. Not enough to label, though. Enjoy your unfortunate and mildly simmering feud, I guess? (Joking. I would have said take over some brownies or something and try to clear the air, but she doesn’t deserve them for using the C-word at you.)

Stinginthetail05 −  ESH. Your neighbors are idiots. Avoid them. Still, you shouldn’t joke about that stuff especially with people who don’t know you. People do get held captive, and it’s not necessarily unreasonable for someone to contact the authorities if they think there’s a chance you’re in trouble.

flyingclits −  INFO: Can you elaborate on “rude Karen voice?” What she said alone doesn’t sound rude to me. I’d consider it helpful, but I was also going the 30 stairs multiple times every Saturday for a while when I first moved here before I figured out they didn’t do our street on Saturdays.

Some people are annoying busy bodies, while others just s**k at communicating so I don’t wanna jump to calling her an AH.