There is something so rustic about getting fruit right from a tree. It can make you feel completely connected to nature, and it can even make you feel like your avatar in Animal Crossing!
And while the best most people can hope for is a lemon tree or maybe a nice apple tree, those of us in more tropical climates can have some amazing fruit right in their backyard!
Imagine waking up, getting dressed, and grabbing a fresh orange from the tree in your backyard. It’s like something out of a movie!
But when this user decided to put a net under his guava tree to help his guava business, his neighbors were none too happy when they realized his fruit was no longer falling into their yard!
Was he in the wrong, or were his neighbors taking the fruit for granted? Check it out!
AITA for putting a tree net to stop any fruits from going onto my neighbor’s yard?
I inherited a house from my dad from his passing a few years ago. His house came with the guava tree on the yard.
The tree has been there for a good portion of my teen years and is special to me.
Me and my wife were one day thinking of ways for extra income and realized we could literally sell off the fruit.
Got the permit and started to prepare guava in different ways. We sell the fruit whole, splice and put into cups, candied, etc.
And to make sure they got the best guava harvest possible, OP invested in a fruit net for his tree…
We realized that while the branches weren’t exactly hanging over our neighbor’s lawn, sometimes guava would fall over or knock against the fence and end up over there.
So me and my wife purchased a tree fruit net for the side of the tree that was closer to the neighbors yard.
Since then I don’t think any fruit fell to their yard which is good.
But one person wasn’t too happy about this net: OP’s neighbors, who had been enjoying the guava that had made its way into their yard.
What led me here today is that last week while my wife was out on the lawn, the neighbors kid approached her and asked what happened to the fruit.
My wife explained that we keep the fruits in a net so that we can have more. Apparently the kid ran off and came back with their dad who asked my wife the same thing.
She explained again and, from what she said, the father looked like he took it personally.
Asked if we thought he was stealing and my wife explained no, we didn’t think that, we just want to maximize the fruit that falls from our tree since we do use it for some profit.
But a knock at OP’s door the next day made him realize the argument with his neighbor was far from over!
Today the same neighbor knocked on the door and I answered. He asked if we could talk about the fruit tree situation.
He said that he thinks it’s selfish how my father would freely let the fruits fall wherever but now that I’m here I’m hoarding the fruit.
I explained that the tree is my property so whatever comes from the tree is also my property.
And OP’s neighbor was even more upset when he suggested that he could just buy the guava OP was selling.
I said he could buy guava off us if he wanted but he looked even more upset that I would recommend that.
I’m glad his kid liked the fruit but now that I’m making money off this I can’t just let that happen freely. He called me selfish again and that I could at least spare a few.
I said again he could buy some off me if he wanted. I offered a box for $5.
Now when we see him around he doesn’t smile at us, and they now let the dog poop on our lawn. He keeps loudly telling his kid that the “neighbors killed the fruit fairy”.
Some of the neighbors are still cool with us but it’s like we made an enemy from him and I’m feeling slightly guilty for the kid.
Maybe its worth a few guava being lost to the neighbor’s lawn to keep the peace, but its not like the neighbor can be mad at OP for what he does with his own property!
Reddit told OP to protect his coins, and said while his neighbors may miss the fruit, they’re not entitled to it in the first place.
And for all the people confused as to how the guava were getting into the neighbor’s yard, this Redditor delved into guava physics.
This user thought that while OP wasn’t in the wrong per se, it was a pretty petty thing to do in the first place.
Some people sympathized with the neighbor, even though they admitted he was being incredibly entitled.
And finally, this user asked OP if a couple of guavas here and there was worth so much hostility with his neighbors.
Are guavas really the hill you want to die on?
If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a daughter who invited herself to her parents’ 40th anniversary vacation for all the wrong reasons.