Sometimes, the best response to a petty complaint is making sure the thing they hate stands out even more.

So, what would you do if your neighbor kept complaining to the HOA about your truck, even though it’s within your rights to park it on your property and pretty well hidden?

Would you ignore them?

Or would you make them regret ever complaining?

In the following story, a retired grandpa finds himself in this very situation.

Here’s how it played out.

My grandpa’s revenge!

About 15 or more years ago, my grandparents retired and moved to a gated community a couple of blocks from a decent-sized lake.

Their house was near Lake Athens, Texas.

My grandpa absolutely loves to get out of the house and fish, so retiring close to a lake was an absolute Godsend for him.

I remember going out on the lake and fishing with him multiple times growing up.

He had a Tracker boat that he would tow with his old 80-ish Chevy truck.

Now, so you know, this wasn’t his daily driver.

He used it strictly for towing his boat.

When not in use, he would park it in a little alcove a few feet away from his driveway, surrounded by trees.

Appearance-wise, this truck was not beautiful and definitely saw better days, but it was still more than capable of taking his boat to and from the lake with no problems at all.

His neighbors mailed him a complaint letter.

Fast forward a few months, and he receives a letter from his next-door neighbor.

It turns out, they hate seeing his old truck (despite it being pretty well covered by trees), and believe it ruins their enjoyment of looking outside their house.

In the letter, they have stated that they have contacted the HOA multiple times with the goal of either fining him until he sells his truck or removes it completely from their view.

My grandpa was MAD!

He called his HOA to discuss the letter, and it turned out that the HOA had shut down all of the neighbor’s complaints, but they were persistent and kept sending more.

He came up with a plan to make the truck more visible.

My grandpa then asked if there would be any repercussions from chopping down a few trees on his property (the trees that oh so kept his Chevy moderately hidden from his pesky neighbors’ peeping eyes).

He gets the all-clear and begins chopping away.

His old beat-up Chevy, which was once covered ever so carefully by the trees, was now displayed bare in its entirety for the whole world to see.

Needless to say, the grinches next door were not happy to see his truck uncensored.

From what I remember, they tried to complain again before deciding to move away.

You must have a pretty pathetic life if the sight of someone’s old truck is enough to make you pack up and leave.

They probably missed the trees.

Let’s check out what the folks over at Reddit had to say about this story.

This person would’ve found joy in just looking at the truck.

Someone else who would’ve loved to see the truck.

Here’s someone not bothered by old cars at all.

This person is just happy the HOA did the right thing.

They bit off more than they chew.

Bet they really missed those trees when they had a front-row view of the truck!

If you liked that post, check this one about a guy who got revenge on his condo by making his own Christmas light rules.