Would you talk to the media about your neighbors?

[cubefarmer]

If one of your neighbors committed a crime such as the CT school shooting, would you talk to the media and tell them your opinion of the family?

[swamp]

No.

[vonna]

No.

[milee]

No. And the fact that a person has the poor judgment to do so makes me question the validity of his/her opinion and truthfulness of his/her observations.

[chiver78]

only the asshole on the one side of me. anyone else, no.

[Tennesseer]

Few of us know what really happens behind our neighbor's home doors. We only see their public face outdoors which provides us little insight. For the most part, little knowledge is gained by interviewing the neighbors of any one individual.

[TheOtherMe]

No, as nobody knows what goes on in anybody else's mind or home. I don't even know if I could comment on myself. ;D

[doxieluvr]

I know the ins and outs of what goes on in two of my neighbors houses. Our houses are connected, so It is hard to miss, plus we are all good friends. I would never comment to the media. I just see no benefit to it.

[Deleted]

In theory, no, never.

However, thankfully, I've never had a neighbor's son mow down 28 people, mainly children, at the local elementary school. If that happened in my quiet neighborhood, I'm sure I'd be in total and utter shock. So if a reporter got me by surprise, for example if I was getting out of my car, I like to think I'd have the presence of mind to blow him or her off, but, then again, maybe not.

I think this is another one of those situations where it's so easy to say what you would or wouldn't do, as long as you're not in that situation.

I believe that the people who DID talk were not trying to "gossip", they were trying to process / digest / make sense of an extremely shocking and horrific situation.

[Peace77]

The local news media showed up at the apartment complex where I was the manager. I decided not to comment. I didn't have anything positive to say and it wouldn't help anything.

[Tiny]

As I have a long and painful history of putting my foot in my mouth and being unable to say things tactfully... I rarely ever offer my opinion of other people (or their actions). I subscribe to the cliche: if you can't say something nice don't say anything at all - with the caveat that the something 'nice' is a simple non complicated short statement.
So i'd most likely decline to comment to the media. Or, say something like I barely knew the person - we said hello and exchanged pleasantries occassionally.

As for my neighbors - I don't know much about their business and I don't really want to. I'll be shocked and horrified when I find out they've done some terrible thing - because I've only exchanged pleasantries with them.

I personally find the interviews with 'neighbors' or 'relatives' or 'friends' to be kind of an example of a reporter(s) being a weasal or maybe exploitive. After all what do you expect the person to say - "yeah, so and so was an ass... I'm sorry he killed all those people - but I sure am glad he's dead." The person's put on the spot and has the potential to say things that are very damaging to themselves...

I guess we should all start practicing our public statement for when we might have to say something to the press... you don't want to blow your 15 minutes and you don't want to look like a jerk.

[Happy prose]

Nope. What could you say? He always kept his lawn so nice...

[cubefarmer]

I ask because we do have a neighbor with an anger management challenged teenage boy. Would not be surprised if he did something crazy. So if the media showed up at my door, I would be tempted to say, "Not surprised." With the current CT shooting, no one seems to have said that except for one neighbor lady who said the mother was rigid with high expectations and she did not seem surprised. Sounds just like my neighbor mother. My neighbor boy has even beat up a much younger kid - at school as well as threaten to kill teachers. He's been expelled from multiple schools.

In reality, I would not say anything to the media if they showed up at my door, but would talk to the police as part of the investigation. My guess is anyone who talks to the media would be shunned by the other neighbors and eventually the background would come out anyway. But who knows how someone will react in the middle of that chaos.

[thyme4change]

If it were the assholes across the street that deal drugs out of their house and there is always a variety of scary shit going on there, and one of them pulled a knife out to my young son and started asking him questions about my daughter - hell yeah - what do they want to know?! I've got all sorts of opinions, and I want all of them gone.

[Deleted]

Hopefully if I had anything valuable to say I'd say it to the police. There was a case here recently where I was glad that the neighbors talked to the newspaper and what they said may have put pressure on the police and DA to seek harsher penalties. An 11 year old boy and his younger sibling tried to carjack a woman in a church parking lot with a gun. He was released to his parents after the police picked him up.

Apparently he'd shot the gun earlier that day, he was known for breaking windows in the neighborhood, bullying other kids, seemed to have been hitting his younger sister (would show up with black eyes after spending time with her brother) and doing all sorts of illegal things. The neighbors would get cussed out by the father whenever they brought the kid home. The accumulation of stories the newspaper got from the neighbors showed there was a clear pattern of dangerous behavior that was being ignored/abetted by the parents.

After the story came out the children were removed from the custody of the parents and the father was arrested. I don't know if the police were already interviewing all the neighbors but it since the child was initially released I'm not sure what happened.

[thyme4change]

I've been looking to purchase a gazillion acres out in the middle of nowhere.

I've been thinking about buying their smoke infested house from them for any price they want, and then bulldozing it. I love, love, love my neighborhood. We have a great community. And then we have this one house.

[sheilaincali]

No- with regards to most all of my neighbors.

Yes- with regards to the group home next door. I have been complaining about them for years as have other neighbors. It used to house three gentleman that were developmentally disabled and confined to wheelchairs. The residents were very friendly and would wave if they were outside. We'd bring the dog over so they could pet her. Then they got bedbugs, moved those guys out and moved a new batch of residents in. They battled bed bugs again a few months ago. I don't care for the current residents as they are there more for psychological reasons that physical disabilities. The one lady is frequently outside smoking and loudly arguing with invisible Hitler.
The real problem is the staff. They are horrible. Plow their driveway out and the snow in front of my driveway. Ignore the grass until it gets long and weed choked. Have dogs running around not on leashes etc. cigarette butts in the street and on the sidewalks. etc.

I've complained to the management company several times and if the paper ever did a story on them I'd comment and complain in a heartbeat about the company and staff but not about the residents.