AITA for yelling at my neighbors and telling them to get divorced because their arguing keeps me up at night?

For three months, a woman’s sleep has been shattered by her neighbors’ relentless 2 AM shouting matches in their backyard. Their loud arguments, marked by the husband’s repetitive “I DON’T KNOW,” disrupt her rest and set off barking dogs, turning her cozy rental into a nightly ordeal. With her disabled sister relying on her, the stakes are high, and patience is thin.

One night, drained from a tough day at work, she hit her breaking point. In a burst of frustration, she yelled out her window, urging the couple to divorce and quiet down. The silence that followed was a relief, but guilt now lingers. Readers will feel her exasperation and debate: was her outburst warranted, or did she go too far?

‘AITA for yelling at my neighbors and telling them to get divorced because their arguing keeps me up at night?’

I have been renting a house with my sister for the past year. It’s great and I like the area but there’s one problem: My neighbors. My neighbors are a family and they’re perfectly nice in our interactions but the problem is that the couple will go to their backyard and start scream arguing every single night for like 2 hours,

it’s so loud that it causes both my dog and the dogs in the surrounding area to get riled up. On top of this, my bedroom is next to the area they argue at. It has been like this for 3 months, the cops have been called on them, I’ve talked to the husband about it, nothing happens. I can’t wear noise cancelling earbuds because my sister is disabled and I need to be aware if she needs me at night.

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2 weeks ago, I’d come home exhausted from a bad day at work and I just wanted to sleep in. At about 2 am, they start with their usual shtick, the wife is shouting and the husband is screeching “I DON’T KNOW” repeatedly (something he does a lot) and dogs have begun barking.

The frustration of being tired and knowing i had to get up in 2 hours just finally made me snap. I opened my window and screamed “YOU DON’T KNOW, YOU DON’T KNOW, IF YOU DON’T KNOW NOW, YOU WON’T F**KING KNOW LATER SO CAN YOU F**KING LUNATICS JUST GET DIVORCED ALREADY AND SHUT THE F**K UP PLEASE” my voice was shaking and cracking from the volume.

Well they did get quiet and it was crickets for the rest of the night. For the past 2 weeks the nights have been radio silent, whenever I see them while leaving my house they avoid eye contact with me, who can blame them. I feel really bad but I was just so tired and frustrated and I just couldn’t hold it anymore.

I wanna apologize but my girlfriend’s been telling me I just need to let it go and that I had every right to react the way I did but I don’t know, I just feel guilty. I wanna say it’s none of my business but at this point I unwillingly know about these 2 strangers love life more than I know about my own mother.. So AITA for how I reacted?

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Nightly neighbor disputes can turn a peaceful home into a battleground. This woman’s outburst, born of sleep deprivation and desperation, underscores the toll of inconsiderate behavior. She tried reasoning and endured police visits, yet the couple’s backyard brawls persisted. Her snapping point—mimicking the husband’s “I DON’T KNOW” with a divorce jab—was raw but effective, silencing the chaos.

Dr. Susan Heitler, a clinical psychologist, observes, “Chronic conflict without resolution can erode not just relationships but entire communities” . The neighbors’ public arguments, oblivious to their impact, violated an unspoken social contract. Their embarrassment now suggests awareness, but their avoidance hints at unresolved tension.

Studies show noise disturbances affect 20% of urban residents’ sleep quality . For the woman, caring for her sister amplified the stakes. She could try a calm apology to mend fences, framing it as exhaustion-driven, while firmly requesting quieter nights. Mediation services might help.

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Here’s what the community had to contribute:

Reddit didn’t hold back, crowning the woman a neighborhood hero with a mix of cheers and chuckles. The community’s takes are as fiery as her outburst—here’s what they said:

Artistic_Thought7309 − Do not apologize. if any apology owed, they owe it to you, to all the other neighbpurs, and to their dogs as well.. NTA and i hope your little snap has put them to earthly volumes for good.

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Professional-Belt708 − NTA. It’s infuriating when you live near the Bickersons who keep having the same argument over and over again. I live next to a couple like that but I can only hear them because their bedroom connects to my front hallway so I can crank up the TV drown it out or go to my bedroom.

Only one time was it something juicy but confusing about him maybe driving with a suspended license or uninsured and if her ex found out she could potentially lose custody of her son.

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Agreeable_Pumpkin_37 − NTA, if they cops were already called and you’ve tried talking to them, it’s been going on for 3 months there isn’t really much else you can do. They’re extreme AH’s for shouting in the backyard and forcing everyone else to listen to their marital problems

PodcastJunkie8706 − NTA. These people were screaming at each other at 2 AM?? That would be obnoxious in the middle of the day, much less when people are trying to sleep. They should be ashamed of themselves!

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LilShir − NTA! They're avoiding eye contact because they're embarrassed and good! They should be. Ridiculous behavior. You get your sleep.

MISKINAK2 − Stop. You did nothing wrong. It worked. Now move on It's literally not your problem now. They needed to hear that and I'm sure the rest of the block all gave you a mental high five for it

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WhoYesMe − NTA - They are rightfully embarrassed. Who goes outside to to scream at each other at 2am? Yep, inconsiderate, selfish idiots do that. I guess they didn't want their children (I assume they have some) to hear, but forgot the whole neighborhood got to hear that instead.

Outrageous-Ad-9635 − NTA Behaving the way they did is completely unreasonable at any hour, but doing it at night - night after night - when others are trying to sleep is off the charts rude.. Just because they liked to pretend that nobody could hear their “private” shouting match doesn’t make it so. Your neighbours made their problems public, so the public gets to weigh in.

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You tried to handle it politely and they didn’t stop, so you took a more direct approach. Your neighbours needed a wake up call and you gave it to them. Good for you. They can’t look you in the eye because they’re embarrassed because they can no longer ignore the fact that everyone knows their business and they got called out for being AHs. That’s on them.

You feel like you broke a social contract by calling them out, but you were only in that position because they created an unbearably uncomfortable situation for everyone. I’d have done the exact same thing you did, only about two and a half months earlier.

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slothcough − NTA you're a neighborhood hero.

Acrobatic_Frame3399 − NTA, you did the right thing. They needed that to shut up. And it did shut them up so it's a WIN WIN situation. Don't feel bad.

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These Reddit zingers hit hard, but do they oversimplify? Maybe the neighbors needed the wake-up call, or perhaps their silence hides deeper issues.

From sleepless nights to a window-shaking outburst, this woman’s clash with her noisy neighbors is a raw reminder of how thin patience can wear. Her bold move brought peace but left her wrestling with guilt. Was she a hero or a hothead? It’s a question that sparks debate about boundaries and breaking points. What would you do if your neighbors turned your nights into a shouting match? Share your thoughts below—let’s stir up the conversation!

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