‘Classy guy, kudos to him’: High-road husband deescalates the neighborhood Karen after being accused of theft, fighting fire with kindness

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Jesse Kessenheimer • Writer and Editor
Mar 14, 2024 9:00 AM EDT

Fiery-hearted folks struggle with being quick to anger. While the world is frustrating and the people around us are stupid, sometimes it's worth it to take a step back before reacting. For those of us who struggle with blatant kindness, think of it this way–if you're being accosted by an accusatory neighbor and your first reaction is to start a neighborhood feud, perhaps there's another way to deescalate the situation while also humiliating your opponent? Hmm…

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    "I was ready to start war, but my dear husband insisted on leaving a nice apology note and a bottle of wine with the bin❞
    via canva

  • Well, the level-headed, high-road-walking husband in this next story was able to fight fire with kindness after the neighborhood Karen accused him and his wife of stealing their trash cans. Benign as it may seem, trash can theft is a real thing. However, if there's a common weather mishap that regularly mixes up the bins, you'd think that you could sort out your problems with your neighbors like adults. The Karen in this story proved that she was ready to pick up arms and start an all-out battle with the neighbors, but was quickly put out by the gentle-hearted nature of one man's humility. 

  • Scroll for the entire story of how one man turned the other cheek and used his kindness to annihilate his Karen suppressor, preventing an un-neighborly escalation that could have cost them much more than just a trash can. 

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    Posted by u/wonderlandwalking Here's a fun note my neighbor left on our door awhile back!
    via wonderlandwalking
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    Neighbor, Since you are not home to speak with, I am leaving this note: Vegas is windy. I am guessing that the wind blew away your recycling bin a few days ago. Instead of going to look for yours, you decided to take it upon yourself to walk up to my front door & take mine. I deliberately put mine there so that it wouldn't blow it away. The mere fact that you think it is okay to walk onto someone's property & take what does not belong to you is not okay. I have had to go look for my bins before
    via wonderlandwalking
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    For context, having someone's garbage can crash into your house is an almost weekly occurrence. Picking up garbage is so fun and we've had to chase our bins four/five blocks away before! We have lived here for over three years and the house over has been occupied by this fun couple for two. In the entire time they had
    via wonderlandwalking
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    been here, they've always kept their bins in the garage, but this time they decided to put the bins in between both our homes. In the time since they placed it, it had fallen over again so my husband truly believed it was ours and that it had just blown backward-OR being the sweet naive
    via wonderlandwalking
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    baby angel** that he is- thought maybe the nice couple had moved both house's bins out of neighborly kindness. Found this note on our door a couple hours later. We had never spoken to these wackadoos before, and they refuse to even make eye contact since. Also to note, there were no
    via wonderlandwalking
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    identifying marks that he could see, so we have no idea if they were even telling the truth on the bin being theirs or not. **I was ready to start war, my dear husband insisted on leaving a nice apology note and a bottle of wine with the bin.
    via wonderlandwalking
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    mmm1441 2 days ago • It's not a bad idea to paint or stencil your house number on your bins. Then the next time nature shuffles them you won't accidentally bring back the wrong ones.
    via mmm1441
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    wonderlandwalking OP. 2 days ago I didn't know we were even allowed to do that and I've never seen any marking on anyone else's, I think we're all so used to it that no one (except their highnesses I guess) remotely cares.
    via wonderlandwalking
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    VegasLife84 23 hr. ago I'd be really tempted to put something like "PROPERTY OF 205 (NOT 207) WE DID NOT STEAL, PLEASE DON'T CALL METRO"
    via VegasLife84
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    rupat3737 2 days ago My neighbor grabbed my can by accident once. We laughed and traded our cans back lol 907 Reply Share wonderlandwalking OP 2 days ago Like normal people?? Blasphemy!!
    via rupat3737
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    Fantastic_You7208 2 days ago The phrase "the mere fact that you..." Predicts everything the in the rest of the note. 557 Reply Share wonderlandwalking OP 2 days ago She talked herself into going from 0 to 100 SO quick
    via Fantastic_You7208
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    . Mrs_Gitchel 2 days ago You got a nice husband 946 Reply Share wonderlandwalking OP 2 days ago It drives me nuts sometimes but he's truly the kindest person I've ever met
    via Mrs_Gitchel
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    P Emotional_Sell6550 2 days ago wow, way to deescalate. classy guy. i would not take so kindly to those threats to involve police. kudos to him.
    via Emotional_Sell6550
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    pmartili 2 days ago I really don't understand why some people are like this... they could have gone with a complete diferent approach like:
    via pmartili
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    "Hey neighbors, with all the wind shuffling the bins around, I think you might have taken ours by mistake. Do you mind checking, and if it's ours, could you leave it at our porch (or by the garage or whatever)? Many thanks" Problem solved AND you don't look like an
    via pmartili
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    Creighton2023 2 days ago Your husband handled that perfectly! A neighbor war over a garbage bin disagreement is just not worth it. You catch more flies with honey!
    via Creighton2023
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    luckyclockred 2 days ago As someone who's actively been at war with the insane neighbors I live directly next to for years, I wish I could go back and just not interact with them. Do what you can to preserve some normalcy or it can get really, really bad.
    via luckyclockred
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    wonderlandwalking OP 2 days ago Oh this is from months ago, I was just clearing up phone space and stumbled upon it again. They never acknowledged my husband's apology, and just actively avoid us.
    via wonderlandwalking
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    I find them a little fascinating honestly, they just had a whole litter of like 10 puppies show up the other day and hand built this huge enclosure for them, but then the puppies and the cage thing completely disappeared two days later. I don't have the faintest idea how they moved that thing or when, it was enormous! I'm too curious to stir the pot now!
    via wonderlandwalking
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    Tiffany Twisted11.2 days ago "Since you aren't home, I'm leaving a note"? A typed note? Yeah, sure. Sounds more like rather than be civil, they angrily banged out that letter, waited until they were sure you weren't home and then scampered over to your house like the rat they are.
    via Tiffany Twisted11
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    • graffiksguru 2 days ago WAR!!! Would've been my response.. Your husband is nice.
    via graffiksguru
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    Thomisawesome 1 day ago You husband is way too kind. Return the bins with a note. Fine. Bit those nut jobs don't deserve a bottle of wine. They already decided telling all the neighbors you're a thief was the first thing they should do.
    via Thomisawesome
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    shocky32 2 days ago BOY... THAT ESCALATED QUICKLY
    via shocky32
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    . sir_swiggity_sam · 1 day ago like this is why i moved into the boonies, my neighbors are cows and corn fields now 9 Reply Share impostershop - 2 days ago I solemnly hope the wine turns to vinegar before they have a chance to drink it.
    via sir_swiggity_sam
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    ToadGang1 1 day ago I get being upset that you took their can, but how were you supposed to know? And there were way nicer ways of writing a note to tell you that you had the wrong bin. People are nuts.
    via ToadGang1

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neighbors f kindness neighborhood interesting wife note classy husband high road Reddit deescalate passive aggressive funny karen neighbor
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