It's just a coincidence, I swear, that I'm posting my second rant for the week. I don't know quite how it happened. I'm in pretty good spirits, really, even if I told a guy who lowballed me a $600 offer on a board that costs $2000 new to get ..............'ed today.

Ah, local Facebook community groups. A great way to advertise services, find out what's going on, sell stuff, and connect with ours. It's also a great place to popcorn observe comments and discussion when someone comes on to vent about something they're unhappy with. This morning, it was a woman angrily venting about her neighbor mowing the lawn at 7 a.m. It's the weekend, for goodness sakes, she argued. It wasn’t just the timing that bothered her, though that alone seemed inconsiderate. Even council regulations clearly state no mowing before 9 a.m. on Sundays. What really had upset her was that she worked so hard all week, looking forward to just one morning to sleep in, only to be rudely awakened by the roar of a mower by a guy who didn’t seem to care about their neighbours. All week, she said, she’d been listening to his dog bark incessantly. She was clearly at the end of her rope - enough to post online about it, which clearly isn’t the most effective strategy, but let’s not go there.

It’s not the first time I’ve seen something like this. People’s patience gets tested all the time by the small, thoughtless actions of others - the woman at the beach letting her dog off lead and not having any recall at all when it approached - and bit - a seal, or the dog poo bags left dangling on fences, or people parked in carparks at the beach leaving their engine running and the music going whilst other people are trying to enjoy the serenity, or people talking loudly on their phones in cafes. What’s fascinating—and frustrating—is how sharp the divide is between those who seem to care about the impact they have on others, and those who act like they’re the only ones who matter.

The neighbour who mowed their lawn early retaliated quite angrily on her post. “Why should he care?” he retorted. “There’s worse things to worry about”. He’s not wrong - but that misses the point. “She should be up by 8 anyway” he continued. Others chimed in. How would he like it, they argued, if he’d needed some peace and quiet? Why shouldn’t he wait just another hour or two till 9 am? What’s wrong with him that he couldn’t be more considerate of his neighbours? Eventually the post was taken down. Some neighbours just couldn’t care less.

Take our rural street. Michelle, four doors down, has to put up with the neighbours who incinerate burning nappies and whose dog runs under her fence to attack her horses. They’re the same once who’ve been letting their 5 year old grandson burn up and down the road on a tiny dirt bike all afternoon. The noise is relentless, cutting through the peaceful afternoon like a chainsaw. Sure, kids need to play and burn off energy, but the constant racket meant I couldn’t sit outside and read a book. The thought that they might consider how their fun affects others seems entirely absent.

It’s the same on camping trips. You find the perfect spot in this beautiful national park, set up, listen to the birds, the campfire crackle, the trees in the wind. Next minute, some dickheads set up and blast music loud enough for the entire campground to hear. I get it. People want to let loose and have fun. But for goodness sake, go do it somewhere where other people aren’t. It’s not just an annoyance, it’s a complete disruption of the natural serenity that people have come to enjoy. And I’ve read the posts about it - again, two kinds of people. The ones who think it’s unreasonable, and the ones that won’t be told what to do, and think people should lighten up, because it’s just a bit of harmless fun, and why don’t you fuck off?

The considerate ones ask themselves, “Will this bother someone? Could this disrupt their peace?”. They’re polite and ask if it’s okay to play quiet music for an hour or so, or if it’s okay they park close to you. Like me, the aren’t perfect, but they at least try to find a balance between their needs and the needs of others. We wouldn’t dream of starting a power tool, for example, before 10 am on a weekend let alone a weekday.

For others, it’s either utter oblivion, or more likely, utter indifference. I’m sure they’re thinking that "It’s my right to mow my lawn when I want." or, as I’m sure some of you will write in the comments: "Kids will be kids; let them ride the bike." Or, "If I want to play my music loud, that’s my choice." What’s missing is the recognition that you are removing other people’s right to peace and quiet in shared spaces like neighborhoods and campgrounds. What’s missing is empathy and care for your fellow human beings.

When people act kindly and considerately, it creates goodwill. A neighbor who might otherwise be irritated by a little extra noise will likely shrug it off if they know you’ve made an effort to be respectful - for example, not starting the mower til 9 or letting you know that they’ll play a bit of quiet music but turn it off by 9. Inconsiderate, blind behaviour that doesn’t take into account others creates unnecessary tension in a world that’s already tense enough.

Before you retaliate, saying I’m being petty, I’m not actually saying we should tippy toe around others, constantly being worried about offending someone. I guess all I’m asking for is a little awareness. If your activity is going to be noisy and disruptive, imagine the impact on those around you. Just because it might not bother you isn’t really an excuse, Facebook guy. Just because you wake up at 6 am, doesn’t mean that your neighbour doesn’t deserve to listen to the birds and wake up a little more gently on a Sunday morning. A little basic courtesy goes a really long way. It’s not even about grand gestures - it’s just the little every day choices that can create connections and community or totally destroy it.

All these petty complaints are small in the grand scheme of things, I suppose. Worse things are happening in the world than someone not picking up after their dog. But then all the little things add up, don’t they? When we don’t care about others, what kind of world are we creating? Surely we want to live in a world where people care about one another?