Some people are shameless, even when you’re doing something incredibly nice for them. They find a way to ruin a lovely gesture and make it about their supposed victimhood.

See how this helpful resident was treated for her efforts.

AITA for refusing to redo a community project after a neighbor accused me of showing off my free time

I live in a small community where we have a shared old courtyard. Last fall, I started fixing it up on my own time, so I began trimming bushes, repainting the old benches, picking up trash, planting some flowers.

A few neighbors thanked me, some left little notes and the HOA said they appreciated the initiative even though it wasn’t an official project. No drama.

Then some people got bizarrely petty.

Until last month.

One neighbor, Clara, confronted me while I was sweeping. She said I was making everyone else look lazy by doing paying attention to the courtyard by myself.

A week later she showed up at my door with a typed letter she wrote on behalf of the courtyard residents saying that if I wanted to keep making changes, I needed to submit a plan so people could vote on it.

She also said the garden layout I chose lacked harmony and should be redone to be more symmetrical.

I told her politely that I wasn’t redoing anything and that if she wanted something symmetrical, she was welcome to organize her own project.

It was like throwing gasoline on a fire.

She snapped back that I was acting like the courtyard is my kingdom in order to make things about me

Since then, she’s been telling everyone I took over the community space and that I refused to collaborate.

Now I feel awkward every time I step outside. I didn’t think fixing up a neglected space would turn into neighborhood politics, but here we are.

My friends say Clara is just embarrassed that she didn’t do anything herself, but now I’m wondering if I should’ve handled it differently.

AITA? Should I have agreed to redo the layout just to keep the peace? Did I unintentionally overstep?

Here is what folks are saying.

I’d probably do the same.

Yikes this sounds stressful.

You can’t win with those people, anyway.

Important point. Others have to like it.

Haha this would make me laugh.

Why are people so petty?

If you liked this post, check out this story about an employee who got revenge on a co-worker who kept grading their work suspiciously low.