My upstairs noisy neighbors had always been incredibly loud. Unnaturally noisy, even — I often wondered what exactly they’re doing up there. My theory is a heavy rotation of hoedown lessons and mini-relay races, but my boyfriend is pretty sure they just didn’t have any rugs on their floors, and that if I didn’t have any, my downstairs neighbors would probably be complaining about me — and my stilettos — too.
I decided to take matter into my own hands. Well, sort of. At first I thought about writing an anonymous note, but since I live alone they’d probably figure out pretty quickly who wrote, “Either get some rugs or move the Stomp practices elsewhere.” I also considered getting a hold of their e-mail addresses and signing them up for the 1-800 Get a Rug newsletter, but I figured they’d assume it was spam and delete it without reading.
Finally I decided to just buy a large area rug myself and play it off like I was getting rid of it. 1-800 Get a Rug’s area rugs are inexpensive enough that it was worth the investment if it meant quiet. Plus I had 10 days to return it if my plan backfired. I popped up to the neighbors’ and told them I had a nice big oriental rug I didn’t want anymore, and they said they’d be happy to take it off my hands. It’s been blissfully quiet ever since.
