Okay, so our upstairs neighbors have dogs. The dogs take dumps in the backyard. Our neighbors do not reliably pick these dumps up. I bike. I often come in after the sun has set. The easy way to bike involves taking the alley and coming in through the back door. I’m guessing you see the connection here. This makes twice that I’ve unknowingly tracked bits of dogshit into the house. I’ve already mentioned that I’d really appreciate it if they quit leaving the dog shit in the back yard. I’m thinking next time of picking it up in a bag and leaving it right at their doorstep with a note saying something to the effect of “I really don’t like accidentally stepping in this, nor do I appreciate having to guess where it might be when I come home after dark. Please pick up after your pets.” Only if they really piss me off will I start emptying the bag at their doorstep. (And tonight on passive-aggressive theater…)
I would omit the note (and make sure to drop it out of the bag onto the doorstep).
You are a harsher man than I. 😉
Not to rain on the passive-aggressive parade or anything, but you’ve already talked to the landlord about the problem, right?
(Or are the upstairs neighbors the landlords?)
Please do rain on my passive aggressive parade. It’s more a sense of frustration without clear direction on how to proceed. I feel dumb saying this, but I don’t want to be a tattle tale.
Think about it this way — the landlord probably doesn’t want their yard full of dogshit either. It makes the place less attractive to other tenants.
You’re not maliciously tattling. You’ve talked to them about the problem and they haven’t fixed it.
If you start leaving dogshit on their door, suddenly you’re the bad one, and maybe they don’t have so many compunctions about tattling.
take the dogshit, put it in a bag. grab some rubber gloves. take it and put it all over their car, smear it from end to end. you may need to gather 2 weeks of doo but remember to keep it moist so it doesn’t dry out. I did that and from now on they pick it up.
100% full proof plan. promise.
I had a roommate once who would not modify behavior no matter how many times I asked nicely, even though she agreed each time I asked that my request was reasonable and she pledged to change her ways in the future.
In the end, only passive-aggressive behavior got her to change.
I hate that so much. : (