What an absurd take. People do actually have a right to "quiet enjoyment" in their homes.

If everyone made that amount of noise, the area we live in would be completely unbearable.

I wouldn't complain if he only used his stupidly loud blower when some leaves had built up, or used a rake for the three leaves he's blowing every time.

Or picked them up by hand. Or any of a number of different options that don't ruin the environment for everyone within 100m. But no.

Personally, I believe that ruining the environment should have a cost attached. But it unfortunately doesn't, so selfish dickheads gonna dickhead and ruin the environment for everyone.

Let me guess, a leaf blowing aficionado? Giant truck with big manly exhaust driver? Muh rights?

This is a good change take a step back and reflect. Read my comment again and then read your response.

You're being really hostile and assuming the worst of me. You know nothing about me.

I'm just saying that you _might_ be the problem here. I'm not saying that others don't need to be more considerate, but that you only have control over yourself and your reaction.

>You're being really hostile and assuming the worst of me.

What difference does it make? Doesn't your peace come from within?

I'll explain why:

>Why do you have a greater right to peace than your neighbors do a right to clean?

I think this was quite a rude statement, somehow even more rude because it was posed in a weak, backhanded way as a question.

It is also a question with the embedded presupposition that I actually do think I have a "greater" right to peace than my neighbors do a right to clean. "Assuming the worst of me".

This presupposition is also irrelevant because moving leaves is not inherently an operation that generates large amounts of noise.

I simultaneously believe my neighbor has a right to clean and also that I have a right to peace. These beliefs are not mutually exclusive and also not measurable so cannot be directly compared.

Notably however, my cleaning does not disturb my neighbors peace.

You don't know me or my situation except what I've stated, which was that I am living next to someone using a leafblower many times per week.

My strongly-held opinion is that there's no legitimate reason to use a leafblower many times a week in a highly-populated area unless you're being a selfish asshole. I think it was pretty clear that I would hold that opinion.

Do you disagree? I don't know because you haven't stated a position, only insultingly and weakly implied what you think my reaction should be (which is: no reaction, lobotomized and happy, everything is ok because I am non-reactive).

If you disagree, then I know where we stand and consequently what I think of your advice.

But your armchair psychology ("what do you think?") I found insulting.

>You know nothing about me.

I know something.

I know that your response to someone being disturbed by a neighbor using a leafblower many times per week was to imply (once again, in a weak backhanded non-committal way) that that person is being unreasonable to think that was excessive, and to offer a pithy one sentence non-solution to the problem.

A "solution" that is basically just me ignoring the fact my own home environment is being ruined by an asshole so I can't enjoy music, read a book or do basically whatever activity I would like to quietly enjoy.

Once again, in my own home, disturbing nobody.

>I'm just saying that you _might_ be the problem here.

Sitting quietly in your own home _might_ be a problem. I mean, what is there to be said about this? Do you want to step back and reflect on how this sounds?

Thanks for your concern. I'm comfortable with thinking my neighbor is an asshole. I don't love the situation, but that's my burden. I don't see any way around that without extreme action.

My original post was an impotent shout into the void, in the vain hope that maybe someone somewhere might be influenced to not be such a noisy asshole. Maybe my neighbor is reading!

>Peace comes from within

I find this pithy response to minimize the legitimacy of my concerns, and also insulting, as if I wouldn't have thought to ignore the noise without this insight.

Do you honestly think I wouldn't have thought to ignore the noise? I haven't tried? Do you actually believe you were offering any useful advice here?

If I didn't care about enjoying quiet activities in my life, and also somehow hadn't managed to discover this insight myself, then your pithy response might be helpful.

Unfortunately for me, I do value my own quiet activities.

And I don't actually see a way to simultaneously enjoy peaceful quiet activities, while also tolerating extremely loud annoying noise. And let's be honest, it's extremely loud annoying noise. Do you disagree?

If you don't have a solution to that conundrum, then perhaps it's best that you don't offer advice.

Sometimes people are assholes and there isn't a solution. I realize that. Unfortunately I'm not capable of being happy about it, as I am not comatose and my peace, the quiet enjoyment that I am supposedly entitled to inside my own home, is unfortunately somewhat dependent on external factors.

So, I'm unhappy about it, and telling me that I'm the problem because I'm not trying harder to ignore that unhappiness doesn't help.