Hey sweet fellow podcast listeners, my first write in: AITAH for telling off my neighbor in the elevator?
I, F 26, live in a pet friendly building, and for the over 1 year that I have lived there I have never had any issues with my neighbors regarding my friendly, 15 lb Pomeranian… Until today, I suppose. I will call my dog Buddy.
So today, one of the two elevators in my apartment building was down. I come back from my afternoon walk with Buddy, and we get into the only working elevator alone. I press floor 5, and the door shuts completely.
However, before we can go up, an Indian man (possibly in his 40’s though he could have been younger) presses the door open again at the last second, and literally RUNS into the elevator. He re-presses the button to go to floor 5 at least 5 or 6 times rapidly, even though that button was already lit up. I guess this was supposed to indicate to me that he was in a hurry?
He looks at me as my dog goes to sniff his ankles. He motions with his hand to get Buddy away from him, saying “I dont like dogs”. I obliged by pulling Buddy closer to me on the leash so that he cannot reach the man or come within 2-3 feet of him. I have a “heel” handle built in to my leash, and I was holding him on that rung closest to his body, so he did not have the ability to go within the man’s personal space. However, I did not think to pick my dog up into my arms, as I was so distracted by the mans frantic actions.
The whole time I stayed where I had been planted, standing near the left corner of the elevator, and he stood near the opposite corner. As the elevator starts to go up, he asks me if I can keep Buddy even further away from him. He acted slightly panicked, and further reiterates that he does not like dogs AT ALL.
I told him he didn’t have to come into the elevator when there was a dog inside. He rolled his eyes and goes, “Suurre, put it on me.” I reminded him that the door was already shut with us inside, and that he chose to open the door and rush in without considering that he might not be comfortable in the same elevator as a dog. He told me that I was wrong, and that whenever he is around, he has a right to tell me exactly how to hold my dog and how to keep him far away from him.
To this I said, “Fuck no, you don’t ever get to tell me what to do with my pet like that. I kept my dog away from you as soon as you asked. HE NEVER EVEN TOUCHED YOU. That should be enough for you to learn how to respect your neighbors. But clearly, it’s not. If I were you I would get the fuck(!) out of this elevator.” Luckily by this time, the doors were opening.
He fired back that this is all on me, that I’m the one who needs to learn to respect my neighbors, and that I needed to get out of the elevator. I just said, “Hell no”, and before he entered his door I go “It’s a dog friendly complex…” He turned and made eye contact with me, and I laughed over my shoulder as I shut my door, “YOU’RE not dog friendly.”
Ironically, the T-shirt I was wearing was printed for advocacy for showing respect.
The bundle of emotions to unravel as I look back on the situation has me wondering, AITAH?
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Backup of the post’s body: Hey sweet fellow podcast listeners, my first write in: AITAH for telling off my neighbor in the elevator?
I, F 26, live in a pet friendly building, and for the over 1 year that I have lived there I have never had any issues with my neighbors regarding my friendly, 15 lb Pomeranian… Until today, I suppose. I will call my dog Buddy.
So today, one of the two elevators in my apartment building was down. I come back from my afternoon walk with Buddy, and we get into the only working elevator alone. I press floor 5, and the door shuts completely.
However, before we can go up, an Indian man (possibly in his 40’s though he could have been younger) presses the door open again at the last second, and literally RUNS into the elevator. He re-presses the button to go to floor 5 at least 5 or 6 times rapidly, even though that button was already lit up. I guess this was supposed to indicate to me that he was in a hurry?
He looks at me as my dog goes to sniff his ankles. He motions with his hand to get Buddy away from him, saying “I dont like dogs”. I obliged by pulling Buddy closer to me on the leash so that he cannot reach the man or come within 2-3 feet of him. I have a “heel” handle built in to my leash, and I was holding him on that rung closest to his body, so he did not have the ability to go within the man’s personal space. However, I did not think to pick my dog up into my arms, as I was so distracted by the mans frantic actions.
The whole time I stayed where I had been planted, standing near the left corner of the elevator, and he stood near the opposite corner. As the elevator starts to go up, he asks me if I can keep Buddy even further away from him. He acted slightly panicked, and further reiterates that he does not like dogs AT ALL.
I told him he didn’t have to come into the elevator when there was a dog inside. He rolled his eyes and goes, “Suurre, put it on me.” I reminded him that the door was already shut with us inside, and that he chose to open the door and rush in without considering that he might not be comfortable in the same elevator as a dog. He told me that I was wrong, and that whenever he is around, he has a right to tell me exactly how to hold my dog and how to keep him far away from him.
To this I said, “Fuck no, you don’t ever get to tell me what to do with my pet like that. I kept my dog away from you as soon as you asked. HE NEVER EVEN TOUCHED YOU. That should be enough for you to learn how to respect your neighbors. But clearly, it’s not. If I were you I would get the fuck(!) out of this elevator.” Luckily by this time, the doors were opening.
He fired back that this is all on me, that I’m the one who needs to learn to respect my neighbors, and that I needed to get out of the elevator. I just said, “Hell no”, and before he entered his door I go “It’s a dog friendly complex…” He turned and made eye contact with me, and I laughed over my shoulder as I shut my door, “YOU’RE not dog friendly.”
Ironically, the T-shirt I was wearing was printed for advocacy for showing respect.
The bundle of emotions to unravel as I look back on the situation has me wondering, AITAH?
I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.
NTA
What a very strange man.
You don’t have to manage his fear, he does.