Michelle C wrote:
PS These same neighbors complain that my oak trees drop leaves into
their yard each fall. I don't think they are reasonable people.
And yet you invite them over for a drink?
The only way to deal with unreasonable people is to avoid them. That
would preclude actually inviting them over, and giving them wine.
On the other hand, it really could be that they have different
expectations about the vine. Perhaps they haven't trimmed it because
they're afraid you're an unreasonable person who'll freak-out because
they're chopping away at your vine. Perhaps where they grew-up, people
trimmed plants that went into other people's yards. Maybe they expect
that reasonable people clean-up leaves from their trees that fall on
their neighbor's lawn.
I have a neighbor who doesn't have a tree in his front yard. I have a
huge tree that even extends over part of his lawn. When I vac up the
leaves on my yard, I continue past the lot line, and get the heavy leaf
fall. I don't go and grab every leaf that's blown across his lawn, but
once I'm done, he really doesn't have to rake. If the tables were
turned, I probably wouldn't complain about raking, but I'd notice the
irony of needing to rake when I don't even have a tree.
So maybe they just didn't want to trim your vine. And it's really not so
far out there to expect that you would trim your vine -- even the part
going over the lot line. Perhaps your reaction caught them off guard,
and it's not that they would mind doing it now that they know they're
allowed to. It may just be that they were surprised that you *expected*
them to trim *your* vine.
Maybe they are unreasonable people. But there's not enough information
to tell. They could be reasonable people with different expectations and
customs than you.
--
Warren H.
==========
Disclaimer: My views reflect those of myself, and not my
employer, my friends, nor (as she often tells me) my wife.
Any resemblance to the views of anybody living or dead is
coincidental. No animals were hurt in the writing of this
response -- unless you count my dog who desperately wants
to go outside now.
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