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If the same type of thing keeps happening to you in multiple places, you have to assume that you might be the cause.

That might be the case in this story, where a woman keeps having neighbors who start out nice enough, but slowly start to ignore her, and then become openly rude to her.

She doesn’t know why this keeps happening, though she admits that she might be the problem and that she can be socially awkward.

I think she is right that she is the root cause of this issue and that she needs to try to work on her personality.

My neighbor laughs at me every single day.

My husband and I just moved into a new house after dealing with a terrible neighbor at our previous home. She literally ruined our lives and made us want to leave after living there for only nine months, even though we had a small baby at the time.

You don’t have to like the people you live around, as long as everyone is polite.

My husband isn’t even from my country, and moving to a new house was a huge hassle, but we made it!

We chose a house in a neighborhood where I don’t particularly like anyone, and I don’t think people like me much either. But at least we all smile at each other, which I appreciate, even if it feels pretty fake.

What is wrong with the new neighbors?

All the other women in the neighborhood are in the same situation as me. We’re all wives of U.S. soldiers, so that’s something we have in common.

Everything was fine until a couple moved into the house across from ours. The husband is actually a good friend of my husband’s, so I had met him before on base, but I had never met his wife.

At least she acknowledges that she might be the problem here.

I have trouble making friends because I often feel like people are being fake when they talk to me or spend time with me. Because of that, I usually prefer to keep to myself. But of course, I went over to their house while they were outside to introduce myself and say hello.

He said, “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you! Your baby has grown so much!” and things like that.

I smiled and turned to his wife, saying, “Hey, I’m…” She introduced herself, and the four of us had a normal, quick conversation. I have a two-year-old, so I can’t really stand around having long conversations.

Saying hi and waving is not the same as being fake.

Her husband really likes to drink, and they have people over almost every week. Other than that, we just go about our normal lives, sometimes waving at each other and sometimes not.

One day, she completely stopped saying hello to me. I actually thought, “Thank God,” because I don’t like people who act fake, and she had given me that impression the one time we spoke.

The next day, she was standing outside her house with a dog. It seemed a little strange, but when I got out of my car, I said, “Oh my God, I love little French Bulldogs! Did you guys get a dog?”

This is a bit awkward, but no big deal.

She replied, “No, no, it’s my best friend’s dog.”

I thought it might be a good opportunity to mention that I was pregnant with another baby girl, just so they would know. When I told her, she said, “Nah, I don’t like kids that young, but congratulations.”

The whole conversation felt weird to me, and once again, I got the impression that she was being fake. But whatever, I didn’t really care.

What changed?

After that, things went back to normal. Sometimes we said hello, and sometimes we didn’t. I was completely fine with that.

Then, about a month ago, things started to change. She started watching my husband and me whenever we arrived home with our daughter. If she was outside when we pulled into our parking spot, her expression would suddenly turn serious. She also stopped saying hello altogether.

There is no reason to assume a motive here.

At first, I wondered if it had something to do with a picture my husband had posted from our vacation. It was a picture of me in a swimsuit, and her husband follows mine on social media. Maybe she saw it and got upset? I honestly have no idea. I can’t think of another reason.

The problem is that she only acts this way toward me. Now, whenever I get out of the car, she laughs at me and gets her husband laughing, too. It feels like she’s intentionally trying to bully me.

It does seem obvious that they don’t like her for some reason.

If I go outside to the park near our house, I feel like they’re watching us. They live in a small apartment directly across from our larger government-provided house. I can see her looking at me through her kitchen window, and I’ve even noticed him watching from their bathroom window.

It’s weird. Really weird. When they see my husband by himself, they’re both friendly and say, “Hey!”

But if I’m with him, they won’t even look him in the face. If I’m outside with my mom, they laugh at me. It’s mostly her, but he joins in, too.

Building confidence can be difficult.

I literally cannot understand what’s going on, and it makes me pretty mad, not gonna lie. I’m a very insecure person, and one of the worst things someone can do to me is stare at me and laugh. It makes me wonder what’s wrong with me, and I start to panic.

At the same time, I’m a mom of two girls (although one hasn’t arrived yet), and I know I need to become more confident and stop caring so much about what some random woman thinks of me. She can think I’m ugly, weird, too tall, too short, too curvy, or completely normal. Whatever. Those are her opinions. But it still hurts.

Once again, trying to predict why someone doesn’t like you is a losing game.

Another possibility I’ve considered is something I wear in the mornings. I usually make my coffee and go outside into my garden to call my dog. Sometimes I’m wearing loose, open pajamas with a bodysuit underneath.

Maybe that bothers her? I have a larger chest, and she doesn’t, so maybe that’s part of it. Other than the neckline of my pajamas being open, I usually dress pretty conservatively.

She spent the whole summer wearing very revealing clothes herself, so I don’t understand why what I wear would be an issue.

It really seems like she is overthinking this.

But I grew up with a mom who always told me that my body type would be judged more harshly than other women’s. She said that because I’m curvier, certain outfits might make me look more provocative than they would on someone else.

So now I’m wondering if my clothing is somehow the problem. I genuinely can’t think of anything else I’ve done that could have upset her or given her a reason to laugh at me. I just don’t know.

Confrontation can be hard.

My husband suggested that I go talk to her directly, but that’s a definite NO from me. I’m not brave enough to do that.

He also offered to talk to her husband, but I said no to that, too. Obviously, her husband would go straight to his wife and tell her everything, and I don’t want that.

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If she is willing to stare back, she should be willing to try to have a conversation.

I’ve gotten to the point where I’ve started staring back at her when she’s outside and I’m standing at my front door. But seriously, that’s some high school nonsense. 😅

My husband doesn’t understand why we keep having problems with neighbors everywhere we move. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if it’s something about my attitude. But I’ve always treated this woman well. Sure, sometimes I don’t say hello, but she does the exact same thing.

The common denominator is her.

That’s why I can’t understand it. I’ve reached the point where I don’t even look at her or her husband anymore.

I just don’t understand why they keep laughing at me. That’s all…

It is likely that she is socially awkward and hard to get along with, which makes the neighbors uncomfortable and eventually rude. She should really work on improving herself.

Let’s see what the people in the comments have to say about this situation.

She may benefit from therapy according to this commenter.

This commenter says to ignore her and be friendly.

Ignoring them is one option.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a college student who decides to send his university a counter-bill after they try to get him to pay “inconvenience fees.”

Here is someone who says that she is the problem.

This commenter says that nobody is jealous of her.

It seems obvious that she is the problem, but that doesn’t make the solution any easier. Hopefully, she can work on herself and become a friendlier person.

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Author

Michael Levanduski

Senior Contributing Editor, Workplace & Community

Michael Levanduski is a veteran journalist and digital culture specialist with over 15 years of professional writing and research experience. While his background spans emerging technology and complex technical subjects, Michael specializes in analyzing workplace ethics, property disputes, and viral interpersonal dynamics across modern digital forums.

Since joining TwistedSifter in 2024, Michael has authored some of the publication’s most widely read coverage on corporate policy, malicious compliance, and neighborhood relations. Rather than simply aggregating online debates, he brings rigorous research, organizational context, and an empathetic editorial voice to everyday human dilemmas—transforming raw forum discussions into insightful, highly engaging narratives.

When he isn’t covering internet culture, Michael enjoys traveling, keeping up with tech trends, and spending time with his family. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn and Facebook.