Is It An A**hole Move To Call In A Noise Complaint At Midnight On A Work Night?
Are you a bad person if you call in a noise complaint late at night with an early morning work schedule around the corner?
Well, this is the debate I now find myself engulfed in after some Sunday night antics. As I've written before, I live in the Washington, D.C. metro area. Where exactly is the Hookstead Compound? That's classified, but I will say I'm in the heart of the action.
I'm not the kind of person who lives an hour away from D.C., but tell everyone I live in the actual metro area. I'm the real deal for better or worse.
I also do my best to leave people alone, and I hope they leave me alone. I don't want anything to do with people I don't know, and I'm sure the feeling is mutual.
That leads me to the fateful events of Sunday night.
When is it appropriate to call in a noise complaint? (Credit: Getty Images)
Am I an a**hole for calling in a noise complaint?
First off, let me start by saying I go to bed generally some time not long before 10:00 p.m., and I've been doing that for the better part of a decade. Why? Because I get up every day between 4:30 a.m. and 5:00 a.m. in order to start working in the content mines.
Sunday night, I hit my bed a bit earlier after a very busy weekend because of the WHCD festivities. I was exhausted. When my head hit the pillow, my neighbors were having a massive party. Massive. Not a small get together. There's a pool, a subwoofer that is blasting so loud I can feel the room I'm in shaking and music is blasting. Sleeping is not an option. It's literally impossible in this kind of noise setting.
At first, I thought, "You know what? It’s not that late. No point in making a big deal about this. I might as well wait it out and see if I can sleep."
That strategy was an epic failure. By 11:00 p.m., it feels like the festivities are only getting louder and louder. This is insane, and unacceptable on so many fronts. Yet, as a reasonable man, I figure I'll go down there and try to reason with them. At first, it seemed like this might actually accomplish something after ironing out some language barrier issues.
It was wrong. Negotiations had failed. By roughly midnight, the music is seemingly louder than ever, it feels like the vibrations from the subwoofer are rocking my home. With negotiations for *checks notes* wanting to not have loud music blasting at midnight have completely collapsed, I did what I felt was the only option left:
Now, I want to be crystal clear here. The cut-off time for nuisance noise had passed hours ago. This is a fact. You can dislike this fact, but it's a fact. And remember, I tried to negotiate in person.
I politely called the non-emergency line, informed them of the situation, they were super professional and within about 10 minutes, an officer had put an end to the nonstop shenanigans that went hours too long.
Weirdly, this was one of the fastest response times I've ever seen in Washington D.C., and it was for a very minor situation, all things considered. But that's a topic for another day.
So, am I an a**hole for calling in a noise complaint at midnight on a work night? I believe the answer to that is firmly no. I tried speaking with them, it accomplished absolutely nothing and it was hours past when insane music isn't legally allowed. This is a law and order society. Laws matter. Politeness matters. First, I gave it some time. Then, I politely approached them. When all that failed, I called in a noise complaint and then let the police take it from there - and they did a good job.
I am willing to accept maybe I made the wrong call? I don't think I did, but OutKick readers know I'm up for a good debate. Hit me at David.Hookstead@outkick.com if you think I made the correct call or the wrong one. I'm happy either way with what you have to say, and I want to know when you think it's okay to call in a noise complaint. Let me know!