17 Stories That Prove Living in an Apartment Building Is a Sitcom You Never Auditioned For

Living in an apartment building is like being part of a big TV show: neighbors, random encounters, and unexpected events make every day special. There’s room for comedy, drama, and touching moments. As the stories in this article show, you might encounter a squirrel or receive a dubious compliment from a neighbor right next to your door.

• I was getting ready for a date, did full makeup. I met my neighbor and said to him, “Hi, Arty!”, and he replied, “Hello, madam.” I said, “What do you mean? We’ve been on first-name terms for a while now.”
  To which he replied, “Oh, it’s you! I didn’t recognize you without the bags.” I asked, “What bags?” He said, “Under your eyes and the trash ones.” Not everyone will understand / VK
• We were buying our first apartment with my husband, the deal went through, and we got the keys. So, my husband went to work, and I headed to the new apartment to assess the scope of cleaning to be done before moving in. I washed all the floors, lay down on the now clean floor, and started dreaming about buying furniture, hanging up a TV, and getting a cat.
  Suddenly, there was a knock on the door — the neighbor from downstairs. “Finally, you’re home,” she said, “Maybe it’s enough with the noise already, because I can hear you breathing above me from the ceiling.”
  That’s when I realized why the seller gave us a discount and left the new wardrobe. But the neighbor didn’t get a chance to ruin our lives; she disappeared somewhere. © Moskma / Pikabu
• My neighbor was a very rich girl with a Maine Coon kitten her mom bought for her. We live in Canada, and she kicked it out when it was −40. I found it and kept the kitten (after talking to her) and he was the best cat.
  Her boyfriend broke up with her a week later and she “moved” back home. Except she didn’t move anything. She just walked away leaving clothes, toiletries, food, furniture, etc. Strange girl. © Ihadacow / Reddit

• They decided to install a bar gate near our building and started collecting money from the residents. My friend Marina doesn’t have a car. She got angry and asked, “Why should I pay for the bar gate?!”
  And the neighbors replied, “You have a bicycle, you might park it here.” That’s some logic for you! © SITUATION / VK
• I was living in an apartment building with very thin walls, and had a neighbor who was slowly learning the guitar. They would play really soothing melodies in the evening, and it was nice to hear. After a while they stopped playing and I didn’t hear anything for months.
  At some point, I bought myself a digital piano and started reteaching myself to play after a long hiatus. Shortly after, I started to hear my neighbor’s guitar again. I like to think I inspired or reminded them to keep practicing. © ChaseStreetAE / Reddit
• We have a quite grumpy and unfriendly old neighbor who will never fail to let us know when we do something wrong. He doesn’t speak French very well, so we hardly have any conversation with him except “Hi”, “Sorry”, “Goodbye.”
  Anyway, he is used to going for a walk at about 9 a.m. every morning. Our building is old, so on his way to the elevator, he can hear me playing the piano quite clearly.
  There was a time I was playing Debussy’s First Arabesque, and he most probably heard it while going for his daily walk. Then, a few weeks later, I was working on some jazz piece which obviously sounded less fancy and polished. I distinctly heard him say, “I preferred Debussy” from the landing... © BlueInt32 / Reddit

• I lived in a corner apartment. Had 3 neighbors — above, below, and next door.
  One day, the neighbors above started renovating. There was a lot of noise, drilling and hammering the walls, though it didn’t last long, about a week or so. I’m an understanding person, if it needs to be done, it needs to be done.
  However, the neighbor below thought it was me doing the renovations, and she started banging on the radiator. Then she came to confront me. I sent her to the upstairs neighbors, but for some reason she didn’t go.
  Meanwhile, next door, there’s an elderly woman bedridden, who also started hitting the wall with a stick. I called them to explain, it was useless. So here’s the situation: noise above, banging on the radiator below, and the woman next door hitting the wall with a stick, but I’m somehow the one to blame. © SoftIceCF / Pikabu
• My husband asked me, “Where are the flowers I sent you?” But I hadn’t received anything! A couple of days later, it happened again.
  So we made another order, and I stood by the peephole. I saw the courier with flowers. Suddenly, the neighbor’s door opened, and our neighbor came out: “They’re not home again, let me take the flowers.”
  I didn’t bother to be polite. I took this bouquet along with the 2 previous ones, even though they were slightly wilted. © Mamdarinka / VK
• When I was moving in to a new apartment in downtown Los Angeles, I was bringing stuff up in armfuls from my car outside. I do hula-hoop tricks, and the concierge said as he saw me carrying my hoops that he had never been able to get the hang of hula-hooping his entire life.
  Since I was holding 2 hoops right then, I offered to teach him. So he took off his blazer and I explained the hip motion to him, and he got it in like 15 seconds! I hula-hooped with my concierge in the lobby as I was moving in. Super fun. © Unknown author / Reddit

• My friend had a story. A lady from the third floor kicked her man out, and he wanted to get back in. He climbed from the car roof to the balcony on the second floor but couldn’t get any further. It was quite a scene when my friend’s husband came home from work and found another guy on their balcony. © Anxious Pastry / ADME
• My friend was looking for a roommate. She found a girl who asked, “Is it okay to have a pet?”
  It turned out she had a mini pony. My friend asked, “And what are we going to do with it if we both go to work?” And she calmly replied that she would tie it up by the entrance. © Vitali Soloveii / VK

• I’m riding down in the elevator, a woman gets in on the 10th floor and looks at the buttons. I say:
  — I’m going down.
  — But I need to go up.
  — The elevator is going down.
  — But I need to go up.
  — Well, if you want, you can ride along.
  She says “Okay,” then presses “cancel” and the button for the 14th floor. © Dikizan / Pikabu
• My friend and I decided to lose weight. But I’m a nighttime eater, and I can’t do anything about it. So the other night, around midnight, I snuck into the kitchen and started eating to my heart’s content.
  A couple of minutes later, the phone rang: “Put the sandwich back and go to sleep. I’m not kidding.” Turns out, living with a friend in neighboring high-rises isn’t as cool as it seems. So, I went to bed, still hungry. © Overheard / Ideer
• About 10 years ago, my son stayed overnight at the apartment for the first time. The building was new, sparsely populated.
  He woke up in the morning to the smell of fried eggs and the sound of sizzling oil. He says his hair stood on end because he knew he was alone in the apartment.
  Then he realized the smell was coming from the outlet. He peeked through and saw the neighbor’s kitchen. © Nanasus / ADME

• I walked out my door and there was a squirrel in the hallway. It went up like 12 sets of stairs, and I have no idea how it got inside! © Unknown author / Reddit
• I spent my entire childhood living in a private house on the outskirts of the city, practically in a village, with all the “charms” of rural life. And while everyone else went to their grandma’s in the country for the summer, I, on the contrary, would go to my grandma’s in the city, to a regular high-rise apartment building.
  It was a paradise: a toilet, a bathtub, renovations, a beautiful view from the window, a playground in the yard, parks, stadiums, lots of stores full of everything. You could just walk, play with friends, swing, read, or draw. There was no need to work all day in the garden or do household chores.
  I didn’t even have to find my own food from what was grown and ripened. I really miss those magical times and am very grateful to my grandmother, who has long since passed, for giving me at least a couple of carefree months of childhood each year. © Overheard / VK
• Many people complained about their neighbors, but I never thought I’d encounter anything like this. 6 months ago, we stripped the walls and ceiling in our kitchen for renovations, but due to financial reasons, the process stalled, and the kitchen remains stripped. Our neighbors complained, “When we look into your windows in the evenings — it looks so ugly, so untidy!” © KovshikSw**** / Pikabu

And these are stories about neighbors who have neither shame nor common sense.