I live in a residential neighborhood in south Arlington. Single-family homes, families, working people. It is not a college area.
My next-door neighbors — a group of 4 guys in their early 20s who rent the house — have been throwing parties regularly since they moved in 6 months ago. Weekend parties I can tolerate. It is DFW, people have fun, I get it.
But last Tuesday night — a TUESDAY — the party started at 10 PM and by midnight the bass was shaking my walls. I could hear individual conversations from inside my house with the windows closed. There were 30+ cars parked up and down our street, blocking driveways.
I work at 6 AM. My wife works at 7 AM. Our 3-year-old was woken up twice by the noise.
At 12:30 AM, I walked over and asked them to turn it down. The response was "It is a free country bro" and the door closed in my face.
At 1 AM, I called Arlington PD non-emergency. Officers came at 1:45 AM. The party was shut down. Two people were cited for public intoxication.
The next morning, one of the guys knocked on my door and called me a "snitch" and said I "ruined their night." He said "You could have just asked us" — I DID ask them. He said "You did not ask nicely enough."
Now the neighborhood Facebook group has a thread about it. Most people support me. Three people said I should have "handled it neighbor-to-neighbor" and calling the cops was "extreme."
Here is my question: after asking in person and being dismissed, what other option did I have at 1 AM on a Tuesday?
Am I wrong?
Not wrong. "You could have asked nicely enough" is what people say when they had no intention of complying regardless of how you asked. You did ask. They did not care. Cops were the only remaining option.