Neighbour spying on me

To be fair I’m friends with my neighbours ranging from 30 to 80 years of age and we joke that I’m always in the window! In forever washing up to be honestly and the sink is in the window so we all joke that I know everything going on in the street.

Absolutely wave at them!!

i wonder if they are actually watching you, or it just appears that they are? maybe they are just very nosey and lonely people and have nothing going on in their own lives, so they 'people' watch. maybe they want to get to know you, and a smile and a wave might go a long way.

but.. it's also a fine line.. our neighbour is elderely and very poorly, and we thought we were being nice neighbours, we would bring his bin in for him, cut his grass when we did ours... and all we've had now are a year of issues.. we see him walking round our car at all times of the day and night.. even the early hours in his dressing gown, and our car is actually parked on out drive (the ring doorbell picks this up).

he has reported us over and over to the police for parking, moving his bins, damaging his lawns.. he's become a nightmare, all because we tried to be nice neighbours! some times you are damned if you do, damned if you dont

Trouble is it's sod's law that these people often don't spot anything useful to see. Years ago my parents had a neighbour, luckily not opposite to their house but down the road, and it was a standing joke that she 'clocked' the comings and goings of the whole street of houses (my Dad called her Mrs MI5).

Then someone opposite her was burgled. Yes, you've guessed it, she never saw a thing, officer, - in spite of being indoors when it happened. Seems like she'd temporarily left her observation post at the wrong time...

If you don’t look at their window every time you leave then you wouldn’t even know, but even if they are looking out, what harm is it doing?

I have elderly nosey neighbours who literally every time we do some gardening out the front or clean the car have to race out and pretend to fiddle with their dustbins or some such nonsense.
It drives me crazy as they don't say anything and they rarely come out the front door except to watch us
It's really annoying

My mum is like this, every single noise from outside and she’s up at the window. I tell her she’s a weirdo for it.

But at the same time everyone has the right to look through their own window. I like the suggestion of waving at them.

Somebody's Watching Me

Michael Jackson recorded a version too. 😁

They are just busybodies. Wave at them, as suggested by everyone else. They might start to realise just how often they are observed watching you through the window. They might not realise that they can be seen!

Maybe they're waiting for someone. I look out of the window if I hear a car door, because I think it might be someone coming to my house.

Unless you have a very exciting life, they're not watching you. Get over yourself.

@woahhhh it basically means you can't stop someone from looking at something. Even if one is an animal and the other the highest person in the land. The king is metaphorical. The person is saying 'I can look at what I like thanks.'

They're probably wondering who the weirdo is who keeps staring at them in their house

So the saying is suggesting the slightly hostile person being looked at is the 'king'?

They're perfectly entitled to look out of their own window. You have no idea how often they do that, they may look out whenever they hear a noise outside, and why shouldn't they?

My kitchen sink is under my front window…never occurred to me my neighbours might think I’m a spy 🕵🏼‍♀️ 😅

That's just a bit unhinged really - I'd take great delight in donating it all to a local rescue centre at her expense. I'm sorry for your loss though, they take up such a big space in our hearts don't they

I would do nothing.

This is the sort of thing that bothers my husband, and the sort of thing that I never even think of. Someone is looking at me getting in my car, putting the bins out? Who cares. How boring must their life be to want to do that!

My MIL is like this. I’d just smile and wave really OTT each time until they get the message.

It's not really 'spying' is it? It's someone looking out of their window at a public road. They're not squatting at your front door with their eye pressed to the keyhole.

They probably think ' everything she goes out of her house, she looks in our window '

I have a couple of busybodies like that across the road and next door.

I moved in recently and this is a small town so there has been a lot of interest from the neighbours who seem to always been well informed as to what workman comes into the house to do renovations, what vegetables I am growing in my garden, what I am doing in my art studio, my cat...

Basically they seem to be doing a lot of 'observing'.

I just assume they will eventually get bored after a few months as they get used to me. I am thinking that the positive of this is that I am less likely to be burgled with all these eyes on my mid terrace...

But yeah more seriously I know it is annoying but as people have said wave and smile to make it clear to him that you have noticed he is keeping an eye on you.

I think it is a thing with small towns/villages.

It doesn't sound as though they are being surreptitious or gossiping about whether they see. They are just looking out of their window. What you can't tell is whether they just do this when you come/go or if they are looking out at other times.
I love looking out of my front window - it is definitely better than the TV.

oh Lord, people are lonely. We park in a communal car park and there is childless couple who are always waiting for me and my princess to appear out of the car and smile and wave at us. She was always adorable baby, toddler and child and many childless couples adopted our smiles and waves along the years. I chat to them sometimes and they do.

One of the wives of these old monsieurs got struck by a strange phobia of going out. Honestly, my little family is all the social life she has through a window. I never felt threatened by a neighbour watching.

I know PPs are saying neighbours are entitled to look out their windows but it's very unnerving and intrusive when a neighbour is doing it more surreptitiously and gossiping to others. Anyone should be able to go about their business without feeling watched.

They're hardly spying are they! They're looking out of their window and you're looking at their window 🤷🏻‍♀️
If they were behind a hedge with a pair of binoculars, I could see your point.