Intolerant neighbour disgusted by chalk drawings.

[Milsey13]

We've been living in a lovely community Cresent of flats where everyone knows everyone, families, couples and elderly. Our children are good natured, caring and kind. They play outside together and all neighbours are used to them and love seeing their chalk drawings, especially through lockdown. We have since had a new neighbour. On first meeting he revved his engine and sped up going very close to my son who was chalk drawing, he always moves out of the way but had very little time. My son was a little stunned. The neighbour then walked towards him glaring at him like he was a juvenile delinquent. I looked at him with raised eyebrows and the neighbour started ranting at me that the chalks are disgusting and he's sick of seeing them when he comes home and we should not be playing outside and to go to the park etc etc. He was very aggressive. I suggested he need to be more tolerant as we are a diverse community with families and those without children have always enjoyed their drawings. He said we have no respect and he will be complaining about us etc etc. My son is autistic and very gentle and kind but is now to scared to go outside incase he sees us. I feel the neighbours aggression and driving was far more disgusting than children chalk drawing. My son is known for his amazing drawings and it's been encouraged as part of his play therapy, so it was very confusing that someone would refer to art as disgusting. The irony also is, that my son has a fantastic engineering brain and it turns out the complaining neighbour is an ecologist and environmental engineer promoting a greener future! Yet, he's revving his engines and intimidating young children! I just can't get over it!

[Milsey13]

Thanks! Children should play outside 🙂

[PaddingtonBearStareAgain]

@Milsey13

Thanks! Children should play outside 🙂

Yes safely 🙄

[Milsey13]

Because there is not one. This is the shared space that is generally only used by the kids the guy. The guy walks in and out twice a day. We have a community garden we all take of the kids are heavily involved, they've planted and litter picked they should be able to play in it. Not because of one stuffy neighbour who's not taken any interest in the outdoor community space.

[Milsey13]

Yea you're right about the confusion re rds. But this wasn't the guys issue he made it very clear he does not like chalk.

[girlmom21]

Does the community garden have a path? Can he not chalk there?

[Milsey13]

Yes, it's not a through rs it's a dead end that is rarely used by cars and it's pedestrianised. These kids got to play outside during lockdown and would be very unhealthy if forced to stay inside small flats with no outdoor time.

[Inklingpot]

He deliberately sped up to exactly 25mph and aimed his car at your kids while staring you in the eye?

[Crankley]

Disregarding all of your drip feeds, you keep saying drivers should only drive at 5mph in this area. Have you any idea what the result would be if a car doing 5mph hit a young child? Multiple broken bones would be the least of it. How can you possibly think this is a safe place for your child to play?

[Johnnysgirl]

@Milsey13

It's not a house it's flats with shared outdoor space that historically the residents children have always used. It's pedestrianised but cars can drive on to the few spaces at 5mph. Rarely is any accept 9 & 5 to and from work.

Cars have to drive through the pedestrianised space to get to the parking spaces?
It sounds like the kids have colonised this space, not that it is actually pedestrian.
I'm also confused at would be very unhealthy if forced to stay inside small flats with no outdoor time, yet you say you have a community garden??
All sounds very unlikely, tbh.

[NewBootsAndRanty]

Only five parking spaces for twenty flats?
are you sure you haven't "reclaimed" some with all the grasses and things?

[PaddingtonBearStareAgain]

@Milsey13

Yea you're right about the confusion re rds. But this wasn't the guys issue he made it very clear he does not like chalk.

There isn't a rule where everyone has to like it.

Already said I don't as it gets on my wheels.

DSC had chalk. They play with it well out if the way and washed it off when finished.

[Milsey13]

OMG. This getting like a court case. He drove past me, I always alert with a wave and alert son further up to a dead end where my son was. He sped up steered towards where my son was then parked in his space. He got out of the car walked past my son who was stood on side and glared at him as he walked past, I was standing further down by the entrance to building which he was headed towards. I then looked at him as if to say what's your problem he then started ranting about the kids drawing chalks and that they are disgusting. It was aggressive in tone and body language. He was seen driving that way by another resident and it's not the first time. So yes he sped up and that is the bigger concern.

[girlmom21]

Was your son drawing by his space? Not saying his behaviour was ok but you're still ignoring how dangerous it is

[Inklingpot]

I think you’ve massively over-egged this in a fit of pique after your neighbour expressed that he didn’t like your kid sitting in the road/parking spaces/whatever chalking everywhere. You’ve deliberately ramped up the drip feeds about environmental concerns, him speeding up and driving at your DS and this bonkers vote that you’ve somehow managed to pull together in 24 hours. If you were that concerned, you’d have gone to the police but I’m guessing that you won’t/can’t because you’ve just exaggerated the whole saga for effect.

[Inklingpot]

And no, this is not troll-hunting. I’m not calling you a troll, I’m saying that you got offended and decided to paint your neighbour as some kid-hating psycho.

[Staynow]

He sounds like a complete misery along with most of the people on this thread - she lives in flats with none of her own outdoor space and so is supervising her child chalking on a communal tarmacked area with barely a car and those that there are are crawling along at 5mph. How the fuck is that unsafe? She can see anyone approaching and will tell her son to move out the way if he doesn't see. 5mph is barely more than walking speed ffs.

Sorry OP people seem to have really taken against you for some reason, even just for calling him bonkers (not even idiot, prick or cunt but just for bonkers they've taken offence!). He sounds like a horrible, entitled man and hopefully he will soon leave because he is so 'horrified' that children might draw in chalk somewhere near his flat and he might have to wait for it to rain for it to be washed away. Miserable little shit.

[Meatshake]

The only reasonable thing to do is chalk a massive wang on his driveway in the middle of the night. What a dicklord.

[PansyPetunia]

He might have been driving on at 4 mph and 'sped up' to 5 mph..... you cannot prove it. Police cannot either

You 'wave' vehicles in....that is ridiculous. You don't own the road

Historically kids have always played there? Doesn't mean it's a given

What about delivery drivers....do you police those too?

The face remains.... it's a road.

[PansyPetunia]

*fact

[Trixiefirecracker]

You said it was a road OP, now it’s a pedestrian area?🙄

[PansyPetunia]

Drip

Drip

Drip

[StoneofDestiny]

Just get out there are draw one of these

[luxxlisbon]

@Milsey13

OMG. This getting like a court case. He drove past me, I always alert with a wave and alert son further up to a dead end where my son was. He sped up steered towards where my son was then parked in his space. He got out of the car walked past my son who was stood on side and glared at him as he walked past, I was standing further down by the entrance to building which he was headed towards. I then looked at him as if to say what's your problem he then started ranting about the kids drawing chalks and that they are disgusting. It was aggressive in tone and body language. He was seen driving that way by another resident and it's not the first time. So yes he sped up and that is the bigger concern.

He didn’t steer towards your son then did it? He was driving into his own parking space which your son shouldn’t have been playing in.
Stop the dramatic arguments about how it would be awful to lock kid inside. Kids can play outside safety and not on the road.

Its not a pedestrian area if it’s a road leading to parking. It might be quiet most of the day, still very much a road and not for children to play on.

[ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave]

Staynow How the fuck is that unsafe?

Well, she claims her kid almost got hit by a car.

[Crankley]

ArmWrestlingWithChasNDave It's not surprising since her child plays where there are cars, albeit they are only moving at 5 mph.