Have you ever had an issue where if you use too many electrical things in the same room at the same time, the power goes out and you have to flip a fuse in the breaker box to get the power back on? I’ve had this happen in my kitchen, so I moved a couple small appliances to the dining room.

In this story, one man has this issue from time to time, and usually it’s not a big deal. This time is different.

The big problem is that the breaker box is in the neighbor’s apartment, and the neighbor is out of town.

Should he contact the landlord or live without power in the kitchen until the neighbor gets home?

Let’s read the whole story to decide.

AITA if I ask my landlord to enter the basement apartment against their wishes?

I live on the main floor of a house with three units: upstairs, main, and basement.

The house is quirky – and one of those quirks is that I can’t use more than two things in my kitchen at the same time, or it trips a breaker.

I’ve gone four months without doing so – but last night, I pushed the start button on the microwave while my air fryer was going, and before I could say oops – boom, I lost all kitchen power.

Easy fix normally: the only other time this happened, I sent a text to the couple who live in the basement, and 2 minutes later, they had reset the breaker in the fuse box downstairs.

But this time is different.

This time: “Sorry, but I’m out of the country for a week.”

They come back late Tuesday evening.

I told him I’d need to contact the landlord then because I can’t do without power in the kitchen.

He replied saying he didn’t want anyone going into his unit.

His workarounds were far from ideal.

We’ve had a really friendly rapport, they are both super nice, and I wanted to respect their wishes.

He suggested I use an extension cord to keep the fridge going (which I did, but have since learned, that’s a fire hazard.)

I moved microwave etc. out into the living room temporarily.

I could do this, I thought, and just live with it for a few days, after all, it’s my mistake, right? (Actually, sidenote, it’s whacked that the landlord doesn’t fix what clearly impacts use of the unit, but that’s besides the point. Try cooking every meal you want to enjoy with only one thing on at a time. Fortunately, I’m not much of a cook, so I make do.)

He doesn’t want to live like this.

But I woke up this morning and thought – wait a sec, why should I have to endure this just because the guy downstairs doesn’t want the landlord entering his unit? That’s a pretty unfair expectation he’s dropped upon me, is it not?

So I’m about to pick up the phone and ask the landlord to reset the breaker so I can have my kitchen back.

But before I do so, thought I’d ask the community, if I do, AITA?

The real problem here is that the breaker box is in the downstairs neighbor’s apartment. I think he has no choice but to contact the landlord.

Let’s see how Reddit responded.

Here’s a vote for calling the landlord.

Another person thinks the electrical issue can’t wait.

This sounds legit.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about a neighbor who takes advantage of an inexhaustive HOA-approved plant list.

Everyone thinks he needs to call the landlord.

OP can’t live without a working kitchen just because his neighbor is on vacation. That’s ridiculous! I understand that the neighbor doesn’t want the landlord to enter his apartment when he’s not home, but this is an emergency situation. An extension cord is not a solution.