Whether you live in an apartment, trailer, townhouse or mansion, every neighborhood has “that neighbor.” The neighbor who evokes a groan from all the surrounding neighbors as they recall the loud-mouthed, 3 a.m.-music-blasting and all-around rude individual they are forced to live near.
Most of us just complain and grumble to ourselves while trying to block out the booming bass of “John Wall” and get back to sleep. But some people channel their frustration and put it to good use.
On December 30, 2009, an anonymous author started deargirlsaboveme.com, a collection of Tweets (a.k.a. his “letters”) to the obnoxious girls who live in the apartment above his. The tagline of the website is “Two annoying girls moved into the apartment above me. I’m forced to hear every dumb thing they say. These are my letters to them.”
Updated daily (and sometimes multiple times daily), the anonymous author posts his comments on overheard conversations or the particularly loud parties the two girls host. Over and over again, he posts tidbits of conversation that reinforce the overall point of the blog: I live below two idiots.
My personal favorites:
Dear Girls Above Me,
“Dancing With the Stars is such a joke. Michael Bolton, a star, REALLY?!” Good thing they have The Situation and Bristol Palin.
Dear Girls Above Me,
“Did you see that Schwarzenegger’s in a new movie? Is he allowed to do that when he’s Mayor?” Only if Governor Obama OK’s it.
Dear Girls Above Me,
“I had to leave the gym early to detag a photo Jess posted of me where I look fat!” Maybe if you worked out more…
The posts range from leaving you saying “wow, how does he manage to not go crazy” to laughing at the ridiculousness he has to deal with on a daily basis.
Deargirlsaboveme is updated mostly via Twitter, so subscribers can make comments on his posts and make suggestions on what he should do next. To date, he has recorded videos of him making fun of their parties, leaving a birthday gift on their front porch, and paying their housekeepers to move the furniture around.
An immature guy making fun of two stupid girls – what happens next is always unpredictable. Particularly what the anonymous author recently tweeted: “My real estate agent just called to tell me that this blog may depreciate the value of my condo.”
Even though he says this as a joke, he has a point. Would many other inhabitants of this apartment complex tolerate his obnoxious neighbors’ behavior? Not to mention the girls’ reaction if they found out about the blog.
The author thrives in his anonymity: he doesn’t give a name, age, city, or state. Despite the cocky demeanor of his posts, it is unlikely that he would make comments of this nature to the girls’ faces; however, protected behind his computer screen, he feels safe to say whatever he feels.
Teenagers also possess a false sense of security when shaded behind “private” facebook profiles and anonymous blogs like Formspring.
Regardless of precautions they take to protect their identity, everyday teenagers and anonymous blog-writers alike must remember that “anonymous” only goes so far. We must be willing to accept responsibility of what we say, do, post, and comment on the Internet.
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