I am a proud M Section Resident. Rent is insanely expensive, but I live within walking distance of the campus, on one of the busiest cross streets in the entire neighborhood. I love where I live, and I love my home even more.
My typical night time routine is rather simple, like most people I brush my teeth wash my face and crawl into my bed, I am a solid 8 hours of sleep woman, I love sleep, thrive off of it and look forward to lying my head on my pillow. It is often my favorite time of the day.
During the week, I usually sleep like a baby. Over the weekend, it is a little more difficult. I get to sleep later, and then I am abruptly woken up by the visitors of M Section. The ragers have come to a close, the cops are usually present and all of the drunken friends take it to the streets.
At that point, I am wide awake.
Not to say that I don’t love being woken up by drunk loud people I do not know, or their Uber Drivers.
See I never truly understood the frustrations that M Section Families have with our community until I experienced it. It’s frustrating to be woken up by strangers, after it has taken me an hour to fall asleep. There is this sympathy that comes with being awoken rudely in the middle of the night. I finally understand how frustrating it is. I am 21 and I was angry, I could only imagine if I was a mom and my 6 year old was awoken in the same fashion and I couldn’t put him back to sleep. It is irritating.
See, I have been that drunken girl at 2 AM waiting for a ride, and I am sure that I was louder than I wanted to be. Or thought I was. But that was not really the point. The point is that this is our community. The single parent, the overworked student, the three year old toddler, we all live here together, and where they seem to respect the quiet streets of neighborhoods, we violate them with our screaming and loud music. This is where we all live and if we are going to get along for much longer, I have a few pointers we might want to try.
1. Tell your neighbors that you are planning on having people over.
Maybe they will call you to have you shut it down, or then at least they will be able to put a face to the situation. Diffuse the tension by addressing it head on, introduce yourself, where you live, and give them your cell number and be open to communication.
2. If you’re hosting the party, BE SOBER.
I know that this seems counter intuitive; you want to have the party so that you can have the fun at your place and head to bed. But having a sober door monitor will change everything. Make sure the drunk, loud people stay inside the house until their ride is there. The problems surface when all the people leave in a drunk huff.
3. Try to keep it down.
It is hard, especially with a lot of people, but if they are inside it will be better for everyone. If they step outside, be conscious of the fact they are then representing you and your household to the entire neighborhood. Be thoughtful of your consequences.
4. Apologize if it ends poorly.
Go see them next morning and say sorry! Oh goodness. The kinder you are the better. Say sorry about all the noise, and thank them for how kind they were throughout the whole situation. Know your neighbors and be nice to them always, they will not like that you woke up their 3 year old, but they will appreciate your thought.
Nothing is perfect. And this won’t fix everything, but this rowdiness is tiring. Be kind to one another. Be kind to your neighbors, and let us old folks get some sleep. I’m not saying not to have fun, just be mindful of with who and where.