There is a time and a place for conversations with your neighbor, but when you have your arms full and you’re busy, it’s not the time.

What would you do if you were coming home with your arms filled with items and while you were trying to unlock your door, your friendly neighbor started up a conversation and just kept talking?

That is what happened to the woman in this story, so she snapped at him and said that she couldn’t talk right now. Her neighbor later asked her boyfriend about it, telling him that she was really rude. Her boyfriend thinks she should apologize, but she thinks the neighbor should have been aware of the situation and not talked to her.

Personally, while I think that the neighbor should have seen that she was busy, that does not give her the justification to be so rude. Read through the full story below and see if you agree.

AITA for snapping at my neighbor with no warning?

I live in a relatively small apartment building – we all know each other’s faces, names, etc. No one is a stranger.

It is great to have nice neighbors with whom you get along.

I have one neighbor who is a friendly enough guy, albeit VERY chatty. He often hangs out on our front steps when it’s nice outside (we have no balconies attached to our units) so I see him all the time, and I’ve got caught up in (too long) conversations with him before.

Earlier today I got home from work, and my arms were extremely full; Tote bag over the shoulder, briefcase hanging off the wrist, lunch box and water bottle in one hand, and take out in the other.

This guy is just not getting that now is not the time for a conversation.

I walk up the steps and Neighbor is there, I give him the ole’ “Hey, how’s it going?” and walk past him, he starts chatting while I’m trying to juggle my things around so I can use my keys to open the door (which requires two hands because you need to be actively turning the key while pulling the door open – annoying as hell.)

I kind of nod along, thinking he’s going to get to the point sooner rather than later, but he’s essentially launched himself into a full blown story, while I’m standing there, halfway through the door, with my arms full of things, including hot, ready to eat food.

She didn’t need to be rude about it.

In my opinion, it could not be more clear that I am not available for this, so I just snap at him and go “Dude, does it really look like I have time to talk right now?” and go inside.

My boyfriend came home a few hours later, and also ran into neighbor on the front steps, where apparently he said something about me “flipping out on [him.]”

Her boyfriend is correct.

I explained the situation to my boyfriend, and while he understands that I just wanted to set my shit down and eat, he thinks I could have gone at it much more politely and I owe Neighbor an apology for “snapping without giving him an opportunity to realize his mistake,” especially because we see him nearly every day.

I see his point of view, and I think I might be a jerk for that, but on the other hand, I think it was blatantly obvious that I was not in the position for idle chit chat and him being oblivious isn’t an excuse.

Even if she is right, that doesn’t mean you should be rude.

It’s not my fault he wasn’t aware of his immediate surroundings, and he deserved it.

AITA?

Whether the guy should have known or not, she has no reason to be rude to him like that. She could have politely explained that she couldn’t chat right now.

Let’s see if the people in the comments agree with that.

This person thinks the neighbor should have noticed and left her alone.

She should have cut him off immediately to tell him she didn’t have time right now.

What she said was completely unnecessary.

There is a nice way to handle this situation.

They both share some blame here.

You can be firm and polite at the same time. Instead, she decided to just be rude to someone she should consider a friend. She owes him an apology.

Of course, this neighbor should also learn a lesson about talking too much. He should have noticed her arms were full. Heck, he could have even offered to help.