When I saw the cruel message scrawled on my recovering grandpa\u2019s dusty car, I was livid. But uncovering the culprit\u2019s identity was just the beginning. What I did next would teach this entitled neighbor a lesson she\u2019d never forget. Two months ago, I was at work when my phone rang. It was Mom. \u201cMeg, it\u2019s Grandpa,\u201d she barely managed to speak. \u201cHe\u2019s in the hospital. He\u2014\u201d \u201cWhat? Hospital?\u201d I cut her off, totally blindsided. \u201cWhat happened?\u201d \u201cHe had a heart attack,\u201d Mom continued in her shaky voice. \u201cWe gotta go see him.\u201d \u201cOh my God, Mom, is he okay?\u201d\u201cI don\u2019t know, Meg\u2026\u201d\u201c\n
I\u2019ll be there as fast as I can, Mom,\u201d I replied as I quickly logged out of my work email.The thing is, Grandpa Alvin is my rock, my confidant, and my favorite person in the world. It won\u2019t be wrong to say that I love him more than Mom. Shh! It\u2019s a secret! And that phone call from Mom had turned my world upside down. I could literally feel a knot in my stomach as I rushed out of my office after informing my boss about Grandpa\u2019s condition. The drive from my workplace to home is a blur. I don\u2019t remember how I got there, but I quickly picked up Mom before we rushed to the hospital. The drive from our house to the hospital was about 45 minutes long. And let me tell you, those were the longest, most painful 45 minutes of my life. Mom kept crying the entire time, while I could feel my heart pounding inside my chest. Once we reached there, a nurse told us that Grandpa was in the operating room. After what felt like an eternity, the doctor came out. \u201cThe surgery was successful, but he needs rest and care,\u201d he told us. \u201cHe needs to eat a heart-healthy diet, low in salt and saturated fats. Regular, gentle exercise is crucial. And absolutely no stress.\u201d \u201cAlright, doc,\u201d I nodded. \u201cBut when can we see him?\u201d \u201cIs he really okay?\u201d Mom asked impatiently.\u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d the doctor reassured her.\n
\u201cHe\u2019s resting comfortably now. The nurses will let you know when it\u2019s a good time to visit.\u201d Grandpa was allowed to go home a few days later, but there was a problem. He lives in another town, and we couldn\u2019t visit him every day to look after him. As a result, we hired a full-time nurse. She was a godsend, agreeing to cook for him too. For two months, Grandpa didn\u2019t leave his apartment and focused solely on his recovery. Last week, I realized it had been too long since I\u2019d seen him. \u201cMom,\u201d I said over breakfast, \u201cI\u2019m going to visit Grandpa this weekend. Wanna come?\u201d Her eyes lit up. \u201cThat\u2019s a wonderful idea, honey,\u201d she smiled. \u201cI\u2019ll come with you. He\u2019ll be so happy to see us!\u201d \u201cPerfect!\u201d I said before I took a bite of my scrambled eggs. On Saturday, I woke up early, bought a bouquet of Grandpa\u2019s favorite bright yellow sunflowers, and drove all the way to his place with Mom.I couldn\u2019t wait to meet him and see his face light up. I was expecting a day full of Grandpa\u2019s stories, unaware of what was waiting for us there.\n
As we pulled into the parking lot of his apartment complex, I spotted his old, beat-up car. It was covered with a thick layer of dust, clearly proving he hadn\u2019t driven it since getting sick. But as we got closer, something made my blood boil. Someone had left a message on the rear windscreen. It seemed like they had written it using their finger. It looked fresh. The message read, \u201cYOU ARE A DIRTY PIG! CLEAN UP YOUR CAR OR GET OUT OF THE COMMUNITY. SHAME! SHAME! SHAME!\u201d I was absolutely furious. How could someone be so cruel to an old man who\u2019s been too sick to even get out of bed, let alone clean his car? \u201cOh my God,\u201d Mom gasped. \u201cWho would do such a thing?\u201d I clenched my fists. I could feel my cheeks burn with rage.\u201cSome entitled jerk with nothing better to do than harass a sick old man, that\u2019s who.\u201dThen, I felt Mom\u2019s soft hand on my arm. \u201cHoney, calm down,\u201d she said. \u201cLet\u2019s not upset your grandfather.\u201d I took a deep breath, trying to compose myself. \u201cYou\u2019re right. Let\u2019s go see him.\u201d We quickly headed up to Grandpa\u2019s apartment. I rang the bell, waiting for him to open the door. \u201cMy girls!\u201d he smiled from ear to ear. \u201cWhat a wonderful surprise!\u201d \u201cGrandpa!\u201d I hugged him tight. \u201cYou look so good! So handsome!\u201d \u201cWell, of course I do!\u201d he chuckled. \u201cWhen have I ever not looked handsome? Even in my hospital gown, I was turning heads left and right!\u201d As we headed inside, I couldn\u2019t stop thinking of the cruel message on his car. I couldn\u2019t erase that image from my mind. \u201cMegan? Are you listening, sweetheart?\u201d Grandpa\u2019s voice snapped me back to reality.\n
\u201cSorry, Grandpa. I was just\u2026 thinking. How are you feeling?\u201d We chatted for a while, but my mind kept drifting to that message. I needed to do something about it. \u201cHey, I need to take care of something real quick,\u201d I said, standing up. \u201cMom, can you stay with Grandpa? I\u2019ll be back in a few minutes.\u201d\u201cSure, honey,\u201d Mom said.In no time, I headed down to the security office near the entrance, where I met a bored-looking guy sitting behind the desk. \u201cExcuse me,\u201d I said. \u201cI need to see the security camera footage from the parking lot.\u201d He raised an eyebrow as he straightened his back. \u201cSorry, ma\u2019am. We can\u2019t just show that to anyone who asks.\u201d I leaned in, lowering my voice. \u201cLook, my grandfather lives here. He\u2019s been very ill, and someone vandalized his car with a horrible message. I need to know who did it.\u201d The guard hesitated, then nodded. \u201cAlright, just this once.\u201d We reviewed the footage from the last few days when I suddenly saw an older, snooty-looking woman, heading towards Grandpa\u2019s car. She took her sweet time to write that awful message on his car.\n
\u201cWho is this?\u201d I asked the guard.\u201cThat\u2019s Briana from 4C,\u201d he said. \u201cAlways causing trouble.\u201d I thanked him and turned to leave, but he stopped me. \u201cWait, there\u2019s something else. I overheard some of the neighbors talking in the lobby last week. Apparently, this Briana woman has been giving your grandfather a hard time for months now.\u201d \u201cWhat do you mean?\u201d I asked. He scratched his chin thoughtfully. \u201cWell, they were saying she\u2019s been complaining about every little thing. Like, she\u2019d make a fuss if his newspaper was left out too long, or if his welcome mat wasn\u2019t perfectly straight. One of the ladies even mentioned that Briana tried to get your grandpa fined for having a potted plant that was \u2018an unapproved color\u2019 or something ridiculous like that.\u201d \u201cAre you serious? Why hasn\u2019t anyone done anything about this?\u201d \u201cMost folks just try to avoid her, I guess,\u201d he shrugged. \u201cYour grandpa\u2019s too nice to make a big deal out of it. But between you and me, I think everyone\u2019s getting pretty fed up with her attitude.\u201dYeah, my grandpa\u2019s nice, but I\u2019m not, I thought to myself before marching straight to Briana\u2019s apartment. The door opened soon after I knocked on it. \u201cCan I help you?\u201d she asked. \u201cI\u2019m Alvin\u2019s granddaughter,\u201d I said, struggling to keep my voice steady. \u201cI saw what you wrote on his car.\n
You have no right to humiliate him like that!\u201d \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d she shrugged. \u201cIf he can\u2019t keep up with community standards, maybe he shouldn\u2019t be living here.\u201d And with that, she slammed the door in my face. I was livid. It was clear that talking to her wasn\u2019t going to get anywhere, so I decided to handle it my own way. I came up with a plan to teach her a lesson. All I needed was a roll of duct tape and a paper with evidence. The next day, I took a screenshot of the security camera footage, ensuring Briana\u2019s face was clear, and got it printed. Then, in big, bold letters, I wrote: \u201cSHAME! SHAME! SHAME! Lady from Apt 4C is abusing elderly neighbors.\u201d I taped that sign right in the elevator where everyone would see it. It was crystal clear who she was and what she\u2019d done.Within a day, the whole building was buzzing. People started giving Briana the cold shoulder, and she had become the talk of the complex, but not in the way she wanted. A few days later, I visited Grandpa again. As I walked through the lobby, I overheard two elderly ladies gossiping.\n
\u201cDid you hear about Briana?\u201d one said. \u201cApparently, she\u2019s been harassing poor Alvin for months!\u201d \u201cDisgraceful,\u201d the other replied. \u201cI always thought she was a busybody, but this is a new low.\u201d I smiled to myself. Justice served. Upstairs, Grandpa greeted me with a hug. \u201cMegan, my dear! You\u2019re becoming quite the regular visitor.\u201d \u201cJust making sure you\u2019re behaving yourself, old man.\u201d I smiled. \u201cHow are you?\u201d \u201cOh, I\u2019m a perfect angel. Unlike some people around here. Did you hear about the drama with Briana?\u201dI feigned innocence. \u201cOh? What happened?\u201d Grandpa leaned in, lowering his voice conspiratorially. \u201cSomeone put up a sign exposing her nasty behavior. The whole building has turned against her. Serves her right, if you ask me.\u201d I nodded, pretending to be surprised. He still doesn\u2019t know it was me. That incident taught me that sometimes, you have to fight fire with fire. You can\u2019t be kind to people like Braina who refuse to respect others. What would you have done if you were in my place?\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Entitled Neighbor Vandalized My Sick Grandpa\u2019s Car \u2013 I Taught Her to Mind Her Own Business When I saw the cruel message scrawled on my recovering grandpa\u2019s dusty car, I was livid. But uncovering the culprit\u2019s identity was just the beginning. What I did next would teach this entitled neighbor a lesson she\u2019d never forget.\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":87161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"none","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[855],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-87158","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-story"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/08\/206.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87158","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=87158"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87158\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":87162,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87158\/revisions\/87162"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/87161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=87158"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=87158"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/justmetalking.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=87158"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}