Imagine living in a neighborhood where one of your neighbors decides to put cones in the road so kids can safely play in the street without getting hit by cars. Would you think this was a wise thing to do, or would you be upset that they were messing up your daily commute?

In this story, one man is in this situation, and he is really annoyed by the cones. He tries to bring it up in a way that will cause the neighbor to move the cones voluntarily, but that’s not the way it works out. Now, his wife thinks he went too far.

Keep reading for all the details.

AITA for reporting someone in my neighborhood for blocking the road?

I live on the west side of my neighborhood, and coming home from work it’s fastest for me to enter the neighborhood on the east side and drive down an east-west street in the neighborhood, let’s call it Green Lane.

Green Lane, like all of the streets in our neighborhood, is a public street, maintained by the city.

I’m always careful to drive the speed limit or slower on Green Lane because a lot of kids play out in the street, usually unattended, and I’ve seen kids as young as 3 or 4 out there without an adult in sight.

This is a big problem.

A few weeks ago I noticed someone started putting two cones in Green Lane, one in the middle of eastbound lane, one in the middle of the westbound lane, lined up, so that cars have to straddle the center line, and if two cars are coming in opposite directions, they have to take turns.

I posted on the neighborhood social media page recommending that whoever was putting the cones there might want to stop, because I had informed the city, who would probably confiscate the cones.

I was actually bluffing, I hadn’t called the city, just wanted people to stop blocking Green Lane.

Some neighbors defended the cones.

I got several snippy responses from people on Green Lane accusing me of not being a good neighbor, that instead of being “passive-aggressive” I could have just knocked on the doors the cones were in front of and talked to them, and they could have explained why the cones were necessary – that too many people like me were using “their” street as a “cut-through”, so it wasn’t safe for their children.

They even claimed to have asked a constable’s deputy and gotten his unofficial blessing to put the cones out.

I responded that I am not using the street as a “cut-through”, I am using it as a city street, which is what it is, and the constable’s deputy was mistaken, quoted the state law and city ordinance that both forbid people obstructing public streets without a permit from local authorities.

He pointed out why the kids don’t need to play in the street.

I got responses back that kids need to be playing outside, it’s better than them being inside.

I responded by noting that all the houses in our neighborhood have huge front and back yards, plus there is a private park in the center of our neighborhood, and I was always raised not to play in the street.

I got the response “the cones will stay.”

He found a way to make the cones disappear.

So, I decided to actually call the city and report the traffic obstruction, and since I now knew the name and address of the owner of the cones, I provided that information in my report.

A city inspector came out in a week, issued a warning to the owners of the cones and told them he would be coming back by to ensure compliance.

I haven’t seen the cones since.

His wife doesn’t think he handled this situation well at all.

My wife is mad at me for ticking off these neighbors, afraid it will give us a bad reputation in the neighborhood.

While I’ve now decided simply filing the report will be the way to go in a similar situation in the future so people won’t know who did it, I don’t think I was an AH for trying to give them a warning before reporting them.

What does Reddit think?

The neighbors were being ridiculous and doing something illegal. He called them out on it and made them stop. There’s nothing wrong with that.

Let’s see what Reddit has to say.

The neighbors’ suggestion to knock on doors was unreasonable.

This person would’ve handled it differently.

Another person would’ve jumped straight to reporting them.

Everyone is on OP’s side.

It’s ridiculous to think kids need to play in the street.

If you liked that story, check out this post about a group of employees who got together and why working from home was a good financial decision.