Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Things that go bump, smack, shout in the night

Since I got back from USA, I've been woken up about 3-4 times in the middle of the night. And this time not by a howling dog. There was howling all right, but from a woman... 

Yep, the always awkward topic of loud-sex neighbors. Normally it wouldn't bother me but trust me when I say this is some freaky shit. It starts with banging (not THAT kind of banging!), as if someone or something is being thrown against the wall, accompanied by shrill cries and "No, no, basta!". It then progresses into moans, groans, and some serious ass-smacking which is so loud and painful-sounding (judging by her screams), that I think it's performed with a belt or whip. This goes on for quite some time, and by the end I always wonder if she's dead or alive. Seriously.
I'm not the only one who noticed it- the person who sublet my place while I was gone emailed me asking if she should call the Police because she was convinced the woman was being beaten.

I wasn't sure where the noise was coming from but I suspected it was my neighbor, a lovely lady who doesn't seem like that type. But hey- you never know what goes on behind closed doors, right? After being woken up again at 3:00AM, I decided enough was enough... The next day I wrote a diplomatic yet decisive note and left it in her box. She came by later that day to talk, and guess what? She's not the noise-maker, it's actually coming from the apartment above hers and she's fed up with it too. We had a good laugh over the fact that I thought it was her, luckily she was amused and not offended!

Later that night they were at it again so I got out of bed at 2:00AM and marched downstairs to the portone and rang their buzzer (now that I knew for sure they were the culprits)... by the time I got back to bed, the noise had stopped. I also left a note in their mailbox and since then I haven't heard a peep out of them. 

What I found odd was that everyone in the building was annoyed by this racket but didn't do anything about it. I realize it's an awkward topic for most people, but leaving an anonymous note is a pretty painless solution. Why do Italians feel they have to suffer silently? 

I ran into my neighbor this morning and she smiled at me and said "Thank you so much". 

4 comments:

Emmina said...

Ha ha fantastic!!! Oddio, when I think of the number of times I have been caught in this predicament, what with years of shared apartments in various locations. The worst was when the culprit was my housemate / best friend - I was forced to have a very uncomfortable conversation with her about common courtesy when sharing living space! I'm not surprised the other people in your building kept quiet though - it's not something that most people here like to admit actually exists, unless they're watching a semi-naked lady bumping and grinding on the evening news - in which case anything goes!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, I'm shocked nobody in your building has said anything! I had neigbours who had their bed against the adjoining wall to my bedroom. I would get woken up with the headboard banging loudly for a long, long time! After going without a proper sleep, I had enough and was rather grumpy. One night, (not being too diplomatic)I threw the nearest thing I could find and threw it at the wall. The banging stopped and it didn't happen again after that.

Leanne was in Italy now in Australia said...

Good on you for leaving the note - at least they may stop for a while...and if they don't you can write another note with slightly different hand writing to they think its more then just one person asking them to keep quiet!

Kataroma said...

To be honest, I probably wouldn't have had the guts to do anything either. :( But good for you for saying something.

We have the opposite kind of noisy neighbours - ones who shout at each other all the time in their ultra-loud voices.