July 4, 2024 at 7:24 am

He Had Been Mowing His Picky Neighbor’s Lawn For Free, But When She Insisted That He Mow It On A Rainy Day, He Decided To Get Even

by Jayne Elliott

Reddit/MaliciousCompliance/Pexels/Skitterphoto

While some people don’t mind mowing their own lawn, others are happy to let someone else do the work for free.

The problem is when you try to do something nice and it isn’t appreciated.

In today’s story, one lady pushed too far, and her neighbor never wants to mow her lawn for her again.

Let’s see what led to the breaking point…

What do you mean you won’t mow my lawn when you can’t even mow your own?

To give some backstory, I’m a 19 year old in community college living in a small neighborhood in my parents old, small house.

I mow my own lawn, which is reasonably small, because there is no HOA and I can’t hire anyone to do it for me. (Also the sun and exercise is great).

Three of my neighbors are either elderly, don’t have the time, or don’t own mowers of their own, so I mow their reasonably small lawns for free at the same time I mow mine.

I live in a very close neighborhood, so while I may do mowing, another neighbor may power wash driveways or some such.

Let’s just say I mow out of the goodness of my heart, and get compensated with a bottle of cold water afterward by two out of the three.

The third, however, is where the malicious compliance begins.

He has a list of reasons why this neighbor is different.

The third neighbor is a very stubborn, forty-something year old lady who

  1. Owns her own mower.
  2. Can afford to hire someone to do it for her.
  3. Is very specific about how and when her lawn gets done, even though it’s free.

Reason three pisses me off the most, honestly because she does not let me use my mower, or fix hers.

Seriously, it’s like she’s punishing me for volunteering to help her.

And this mower. Is. A. Piece. Of. Crap.

The blades are dull, and she doesn’t let me sharpen them. It’s clogged full of old grass, she doesn’t let me clean it.

And yet every time I ask if I can tidy it up, she snaps “Quit wasting time and just get the job done!”

She is mean, entitled, and doesn’t care that I do four lawns in one day.

Even on days where I can’t mow the lawn because I’m feeling under the weather, or am just too busy with school, she threatens to call the “HOA” (again we don’t have one) and report me for running a business without a license, unless I get the lawn mowed.

I’m pretty sure of three things, you don’t need a license to mow a lawn, it’s not a business since I don’t ask for money or compensation, and that she doesn’t have the number for the home owners association that doesn’t exist.

I honestly should have stopped volunteering to mow her lawn a long time ago, but I just never had the heart.

Except for last week.

He didn’t expect her to show up at his door.

It’s July, rainy, and very hot, and on the morning I was “scheduled” to mow, it poured like a sonofab****.

Now those of you who mow lawns know, you can’t, or rather, shouldn’t mow your lawn directly after it rains for various reasons, and my neighborhood is pretty shaded so it takes at least a day to dry up.

So around five o clock in the afternoon, I’m just relaxing and enjoying the free time, when out of nowhere there is a frantic smashing of a fist on my door (I would call it pounding, but it honestly wasn’t).

Lo and behold, it’s SL (stubborn lady), looking annoyed as ever.

As soon as I crack my door, the yelling starts, and I’m almost blasted back as she tries to push my door open.

I couldn’t make out most of what she was saying, but I did hear the words “lazy”, “brat”, and “millennial” thrown in there.

He kept his cool, but she didn’t.

I’m pretty laid back and used to dealing with angry adults, so this doesn’t irk me all that much, but when she pushed the door open, that started to piss me off.

Then she started to talk in an understanding voice.

SL: WHY ISN’T MY LAWN MOWED?! I NEED IT MOWED RIGHT NOW!

Me: Ma’am it rained pretty heavily today and I can’t m-

SL: I DON’T GIVE A RATS A** WHAT THE WEATHER IS LIKE, YOU BETTER GET YOUR F****** A** OUT THERE, I HAVE COMPANY!

Me: Ma’am, I’m not going to do your lawn, I didn’t even mow my own today. Please stop harassing me!

SL: (with her teeth clenched and neck veins popping) if you don’t mow the lawn RIGHT GOD ****NOW I will report you like I should have done a long time ago

Now while I could have argued, which I don’t like to do, I had thought of a better plan.

Me: sigh alright ma’am, may I at least use my mower?

SL: no way you snot nosed kid, I want my lawn exactly the way I like it.

She had no idea how her request would backfire.

My plan was in action.

So, grabbing her lawn mower, and seeing that her and her company’s freshly rained on “fancy” cars were all right on the edge of the lawn, I started to mow.

I only got about halfway through before the mower completely shut down due to clogging and the sheer dullness of the blade, but it all worked out.

Later that day after a nice shower and meal, I heard the reaction to my compliance, which was, to my amusement, the insane screaming and ranting about why the lawn was only half done and every car was caked in mud and grass.

I only got in trouble with her, as none of my neighbors liked her very much.

Of course she threatened again to report me to the nonexistent HOA, to which I said go ahead, and then once and for all told her that I refuse to mow her lawn ever again.

This person loved how it all played out.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

The law is clearly on the OP’s side.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

Perhaps he needs a standing ovation.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

Perhaps it’s a Gen X vs millennial thing.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

Not all favors are appreciated.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

This person wouldn’t have let the situation continue.

Source: Reddit/Malicious Compliance

Being nice doesn’t always pay off, but sometimes it works out.

At least it does if you like revenge.

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