Well that was weird.

I apologize for the long post.

So my neighbor and I have gotten to be pretty good friends. He's in his late 50's and he's got a son that lives with him on and off that is in his early 20s. I always come over and help with car projects and he lends me a tool here and there.

So the so apparently the kid was in a mess of trouble with the law before I moved in because the other neighbors have told us what happened. I have given the kid the benefit of the doubt because I wasn't here when it happened and apparently alcohol was involved and I know it can make people do stupid regretful things. He does act sketchy and paranoid.

So anyways, the kid left for a few months for work in another state and I knew the dad was by himself so I always made a point to chat him up and he let me know where his spare key was to his house and garage in case I needed a tool or he worked really late and could let his dog out for him. Now the kid is back and is back to acting sketchy and being paranoid.

The other night the County Sheriff beat on my door the other night looking for the kid until they realized they had the wrong address. WTF?

The next day I noticed my lights were broken by someone on my garage (coincidentally because the lights had actually been out for a couple nights, I just didn't go take a close look). I'm pretty sure it's some neighborhood kids being douches, but I said something to the kid (non accusatory) and to keep a lookout, then he got all paranoid. I had talked to the dad later and told him what happened too.

So today I text the dad if he would like me to come over and get his wifi going for him (something that was previously discussed) and he said sure. So I go over to the house, they have a back porch with an outer door and an inner door to the house. I walked into the porch to knock on the inner door because they can't hear you knock on the outer door.

The kid opens the inner door and starts yelling at me that you can't just walk into a persons house and that I need to knock on the door and wait for them to open the door pointing at the outside door. Before I can defend myself, he proceeds to yell at me that I need to go back outside and start again and knock on the door like I'm a little kid.

So I decide that I don't need this confrontation, so I close the door, lightly knock on it, he opens it up and sarcastically asks "Can I help you?" I tell him that I wanted to talk to his dad and he says he'll get him, at this point I'm burning up inside. The dad comes to the door and sees my frustration and asks what's wrong. I just tell him I'll come back later and go back to my house.

I see the dad later and I come over to return a couple tools and I apologize to him because I know he knows what happened. He tells me that he taught all his kids that they never walk into someone's house no matter who it is. I explained to him that I wasn't going to walk into the house and that I was going to knock on the inner door because they never hear when I knock on the outer door. He understood and said that he needed to fix the door bell. There was no issue between me and him.

I've decided that I'm going to stay away for a while. The kid pissed me off and I can't deal with his paranoid bullE36 M3. I tried to get their wifi working the other day and the kid was all paranoid about me knowing the password but got all frustrated when he tried to do it himself and kindly asked me to leave, so I did.

I don't want to be rude to the dad though because he's starting his Willys project and he had all sorts of questions for me. I think I'm going to not "pop by" as much as I have been, I'll just wave from my yard.

Definitely an odd thing. Its obvious the kid has some issues. I know you want to spend time with the dad, but one of two things would need to happen if it were me; either the dad would need to put his foot down that I was an OK dude and put a stop to it, or just hang back and hope the dad puts 2 and 2 together and realizes that his son is cramping his style.

Doesn't sound like #1 will happen. I would say you're doing the right thing. Hang back and let the dad come to you.

Sounds like the kid is cooking meth & dad is ok/involved.

I would put distance between you and them. And get your own tools.

Bummer. While I probably wouldn't often do it, neither of my neighbors would look at me funny if I opened their storm door. Probably would be curious but wouldn't mind if I opened the door and walked in.

Disappointing.

open the storm door and knock.. that is perfectly ok.. flimsy storm doors do not transmit sound like a good solid door.

As for the kid.. I would keep my distance, he's bad news

I always thought you opened the storm door to knock. That's what I do as a pizza delivery guy. Never had any meth heads sketch out about it.

I think the "meth" mentions are more on the lines of a meme than actually an accusation

Well it's not just a storm door. There's a storm door with a regular door on the outside of the porch with a doorbell (that doesn't work) and then you walk onto the enclosed porch and there is another regular door that goes from the porch into the house. I have walked into porch before to knock on the inside door because I have beat on that outside door and they haven't heard me, not even their dog.

As for the kid, he is a pothead, so that is probably part of the issue. The dad doesn't put up with it, but knows he can't stop him either it just doesn't happen in the house.

The son sounds like a chihuahua that has been given the run of the house and is in desperate need of a reality check.

Why are you putting effort into getting involved with crazy people?

Why is your garage unlocked when there are crazy people in your neighbourhood? There are people I've known for years who have no idea what the inside of my shop looks like.

In reply to Trans_Maro:

I'm not sure where you're getting that from? My garage is always locked when I'm not in it or outside working in the yard.

Plus, I'm not making an effort to befriend crazy people, they are my next door neighbor, I'm a friendly guy, I'm not just going to be a dickhead to someone without reason. The dad is an old school, cool guy, but the kid obviously has problems. I don't care about the kid, I've actually never liked him, because he has always been a bit bizarre, but I have always been nice. This was just a bizarre altercation.

Sorry, this made it sound like you're one of those people who leaves the door open: The next day I noticed my lights were broken by someone on my garage (coincidentally because the lights had actually been out for a couple nights, I just didn't go take a close look). I'm pretty sure it's some neighborhood kids being douches,

SyntheticBlinkerFluid wrote: As for the kid, he is a pothead, so that is probably part of the issue. The dad doesn't put up with it, but knows he can't stop him either it just doesn't happen in the house.

Cannabis doesn't make people act like that, unless he's running a grow house, which I doubt.

Just don't end up on the business end of a butcher knife because this kid finally snaps and you were the last person to make the list.

Well like I said, I'm keeping my distance for a while.

"Working a job out of town for a few months" is often a nice way for family to explain away some jail time. Kid probably has a substance problem of some sort and they often develop sticky fingers to support their habit. Keep care of your stuff and wait until junior gets another "out of town job".