Sometimes the best way to teach a lesson isn’t with words, but with well-timed revenge.

So when a kid repeatedly crossed through a neighbor’s backyard without permission, the neighbor didn’t complain — she simply started walking the same path.

What started as a childish shortcut turned into a grown-up lesson in trespassing etiquette.

Keep reading for the full story!

Neighbor got “revenge” on me and my family by walking in our yard

Growing up, my parents’ backyard connected and shared a fence with 3 neighbors—next door, directly behind, and diagonally.

I had friends who lived diagonally to us, so to get to their house I would hop the fence and take maybe 5 steps in the corner of the neighbor’s yard directly behind us.

As a kid, she didn’t think twice about doing things like this.

I was probably 11 or 12 at the time, and my parents didn’t see a major issue with it since the property had about a half acre between the fence and their house.

In hindsight, and now as a homeowner, I’d be super annoyed that a kid was doing this on my property without asking, and I’d probably talk to the neighbor about it to give permission first. But that’s not what happened.

But when the adults started using the same “shortcut,” things got a little dramatic.

After doing this a few times over the course of a month or two, I looked out the window one morning and saw the neighbor who lived behind my parents walking straight through our backyard.

By the time I told my dad, she was at our gate and went through it to our front yard.

My dad confronted her and asked what the **** she was doing, and sarcastically said, “I’m just visiting my friend, this is a shortcut.”

So petty and weird—I respect her for it.

You can’t shortcut your way around proper manners.

What did Reddit have to say?

This commenter also remembers taking a shortcut as a kid.

Sometimes you just have to put up a sign and hope for the best.

Kids do this stuff all the time, but adults should know better.

Sometimes nature is the one to wage its revenge.

To this commenter, a couple kids passing through your yard just isn’t that big of a deal.

This is what happens when you treat property lines like mere suggestions.

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