Source: Reddit
I (26f) live in an apartment. I’m a resident in a medical profession and I work 100 hour weeks plus a lot of additional hours of studying and paperwork. I hardly sleep as is. I cannot wear ear plugs because I need to be able to hear my phone when on call or if I’m called about a patient under my care. This happens frequently and I never turn off my phone and only update it when I’m at work. Just for an idea about how strongly I’m attached to my phone.
My downstairs neighbour had a baby last month. Since she came home from the hospital I haven’t slept through the night. I’m woken up every 1-2hrs by the baby and this baby screams. I know the mom is trying her best- I’m sure she doesn’t want to be woken up either. But, I’m losing it. I fell asleep Thursday standing up in the middle of rounds. My attending was not impressed and I was reprimanded. My boyfriend has been encouraging me to file a complaint because it’s not fair I can’t sleep.
I have tried to talk directly to my neighbour to ask if she could stop walking around her whole apartment (I’ve tried sleeping on my couch which is better but mom walks the baby around the apartment) or maybe if there could be some soundproofing done. But every time I’ve had the chance to go to her apartment she’s got a note about the baby sleeping and please don’t knock. I do not have her number or other way to contact her (I feel weird about leaving a note and want to address it in person). So I spoke to my landlord Friday evening. I was very clear that I’m not trying to blame this woman, I just wanted to know if there could be some sound proofing done or something. The landlord said they’d look into options.
Well, Saturday I had a day off mandated because I’m now considered a risk to patients which is causing a whole host of issues for me. I was sleeping and woke up to pounding and screaming. The mother was furious with me and kept screaming about how I’m selfish and trying to kick out a single mom, etc. neighbours were watching and I kept trying to explain but she (and the baby) just kept screaming. I lost it. I’m beyond exhausted and just screamed back. I told her her baby is so loud she might cost me my job and that I can’t function anymore because of her and that soundproofing isn’t the end of the world. If she can’t soundproof she should be considerate and f off from apartment living. She started crying and left.
I feel awful about it. I know I shouldn’t have yelled. I know that makes me a Jerk. But am I a Jerk for filing a complaint? My impression was the landlord was going to fix the issue, not kick her out? I don’t want that.
What would you do in her situation? Here are a few comments on the story where it was originally posted:
