Last week, I came home several times to find a bright orange extension cord running from my neighbor\u2019s garage into the outdoor socket at the back of my house. The first time, I unplugged it, assuming it was an honest mistake. But when I caught him doing it again and pointed out that he was using electricity from my meter, he just laughed and shrugged, saying, \u201cRelax, it\u2019s only a few pennies.\u201d<\/p>\n
After it happened again while I was away, I decided enough was enough. I installed a lockable cover over the outdoor socket\u2014not to start an argument, but simply to stop someone from helping themselves to my electricity whenever they felt like it. I even thought that would quietly settle the issue.<\/p>\n
Instead, this morning I found a handwritten note pushed through my letterbox. He claimed I had blocked the \u201ccommunity socket\u201d and wrote that, since he could no longer charge his e-bike outside, he expected to plug it in inside my house whenever it rained. He even asked me to leave my back gate unlocked on Saturday so he could let himself in. I honestly stood there staring at the note, wondering if he was serious.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m not looking to fall out with the neighbors. I even offered to split the cost of having a proper outdoor outlet installed on his own property, but he refused. Now he\u2019s telling people on the street that I\u2019m being stingy over \u201ca bit of electricity.\u201d To me, though, this has never been about the cost\u2014it\u2019s about respect, personal boundaries, and someone believing they\u2019re entitled to use my home as if it were their own<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last week, I came home several times to find a bright orange extension cord running from my neighbor\u2019s garage into the outdoor socket at the back of… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":8254,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8253","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n