If you've ever lived in an apartment with ultra-thin walls, you'll know how difficult it is to have a private life. Or, for your neighbors to have a private life, for that matter. Here, people share the most delicious secrets they've heard through ultra-thin walls that they definitely weren't meant to.
1. When you hear something super sad
I learned that my neighbour's husband was beating her. It was super sad. They had a 2 year old at the time and I knew she was a stay at home mom. So...one day I had a week day off work, went over with a cake, and made her my best friend. At the time she had a broken arm and two huge black eyes. She didn't have any friends as she wasn't from the area. I helped her with her kid, I helped her dump him, I helped her move back to her home province and we're still best friend to this day.
Here's some answers to some faq's:
-I didn't call the police as I was young and scared and didn't know what to do. I was 18 at the time and had just move to the city. One of the most dangerous cities in the country. I was worried that their kid would get taken away, or that he would know it was me and try to beat me up. Contrary to seemingly popular belief, I'm a girl (as indicated by the princess in my username), and I'm not a sizeable one. I figured it would be easier for her for me to just be someone to talk to and she could decide if she wanted to call the police or not. When I went over that day I just the new neighbor wanting to make friends (this happened when I had lived in the building about 3 weeks), I didn't even mention her eyes or cast that day. We just sat around and giggled and compared Archie Comic collections. We legit became best friends in the matter of hours.
-I have not seen Drive, but I guess I should check it out. I for some reason thought it was about Ryan Gosling stealing cars? Whateves, I'll give it a go.
-It was a "McCain's Deep and Delicious" marble cake, as I'm not a baker.
2. The juicy gossip on the Facebook nudes
My neighbor's teenage daughter sent some nudes via Facebook and got caught by her mom. That girl got yelled at like I've never heard. And I heard it all because I turned off everything in my place that made noise and stood with my ear against the wall basically the entire time.
3. The guy that would be embarrassed to have an audience
My neighbour has been learning to play guitar for almost a year now, he's gotten a lot better! Shhhhh!
4. This is our new Sunday night entertainment
In college, we could always hear a girl and her boyfriend argue. It went on for weeks. Each time, I'd mute the television and listen in. Housemates thought it was odd at first, but once they started hearing the crap this couple said, they were totally on board.
5. It was entertaining, until...
When I was younger, I moved into this new apartment complex. First night there, it started... Sex noises. Every night around 11pm I hear this couple having sex, loud sex. I admit that I found it a bit entertaining (because it never went on for too long) until a couple weeks later. I see the guy walking out of his apartment. 75 years old and quite husky. Nobody was having sex... I was listening to his porn over surround sound.
6. Uh... I can explain
I had cops called on me for suspected domestic abuse when I was fresh out of college. I lived alone at the time and what actually happened was (Continued)
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I lived alone at the time and what actually happened was that I beat the crap out of my box fan after a 5 game losing streak on SCII ladder.
7. Personal concerts are oh-so-sweet
My neighbor sings to someone through the phone about 3 nights a week. I don't know what he is saying but it sounds like he really loves whoever it is he is singing to. I don't really get annoyed by it because I think it's a pretty sweet thing to do. It's to the point now that if I don't hear singing for a while I get a little worried about him.
8. The perfect neighbor
My neighbor is the perfect neighbor, single guy in his 40s, he makes no noise and is rarely home; I see him leaving sometimes in the morning always in a suit and tie, hair perfectly combed, and he drives a M6.
But one weekend each month his two sons come to visit him.
They're both pretty young, and the week before they come I have heard him on the balcony talking with someone on the phone about the plans he's made to do with his boys once they're there.
Also once they're at his apartment I can hear him read to them every night before bed.
9. "They couldn't live without each other"
Lived in a four apartment strip back in the 90's. Quiet, peaceful, perfect.
One Saturday afternoon, I'm sitting on the couch watching tv and hear a gunshot. Second later, another. I run next door and pound on the door, can't get in.
So I call 911, tell them this and cops show up pretty quick.
Turns out the elderly couple next door did a murder-suicide pact because they didn't want to live without one another.
10. Wine isn't alcohol...right?
Some jerkwad who lives right above me is a lot louder than he seems to think he is. Just the other night, I learned he's "quitting alcohol and switching to wine."
11. Neighbors who appreciate food this much are worth keeping
My neighbors used to get really high and make crazy food and eat snacks loudly late into the night. My favorite thing I ever heard as I was passing by was: (Continued)
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"Dude. Yes."
"And then put some friggin cheese in it dude."
"You mean stuff it in inside the bell pepper??"
"Hell yes! And then put it in the oven!"
Loud moaning
12. Suspicious renovations in the middle of the night
My upstairs neighbours absolutely love to move their furniture around. I assume this is supposed to be a secret because it only happens between 3 am - 4 am.
13. The sounds of a new beginning
I heard my neighbor give birth when I was a kid. It was planned, there were a bunch of people there and she did it in a bathtub or something.
14. Today we're broken up, tomorrow we're together, repeat
My next-door neighbor used to constantly break up with her boyfriend and have loud sobbing phone calls with her friends late at night.
One time a friend even called the police because he was worried she would harm herself. I saw the police walking down the hall as I was coming home and they thought I was her at first.
Then they went into her apartment and spoke for 30 minutes about love, pills and the importance of staying resilient in the face of breakups. The officer was a great guy, but I heard way too much.
15. This guy's a true adventurer!
I learned that my old neighbor's kid is... an adventurer in the body of a nine-year-old boy. The first conversation I ever heard between mother and son was something akin to her shrieking, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING TO THE CARPET?"
"I'M DIGGING A HOLE, MOM!"
I often heard her crying and one time asking him if he'd prefer to live with his dad, because he seemed miserable with her. She thought that was why he was acting out. He ended up crying, too, and begging her to let him stay. So he did, and at least they seemed to get on better after that.
To not end on a sour note, the funniest thing I think I heard was her shrieking, "OH MY GOD, WHERE DID YOUR CLOTHES GO?"
"NOT HERE."
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"
"I'M FREE, MOM! I'M FREE!"
She scolded him, but after I heard him stomp off, I heard her laughing pretty hard on the other side of the wall.
16. This is so sad :(
I've learned that my neighbor probably abuses his wife...
Which of the 3am hallway arguments brought me to that conclusion? (Continued)
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Was it the one where she locked him out and he tried to break down the door? Or the one where four separate neighbors called the cops because they were screaming at each other for almost an hour?
No, the one that really fixed my impression of him is when he chased her down the stairs carrying a metal pipe and he swung so hard at her that he broke off a chunk of the concrete. I kept the broken shards as a souvenir for the cops. I really hope she gets out.
17. A lady and her cat
The woman next door has a relationship with her cat that's... interesting. She's a recluse in her mid forties. Nuthin' wrong with that, but she doesn't seem to be handling it well.
She treats it like a human, and I'm not talking about how much she loves it. Her relationship with it plays out as if he were an actual family member, dynamics and all. They have fights. A lot. Mostly, she feels that he neglects her feelings and doesn't appreciate how much time she puts into being at work and doing all of the housework. She wishes he would at least help take the trash out. And when she has "sexy time" with herself, she doesn't understand why he complains about having to go outside.
Last night they had another fight, but I got home late, so I don't know what it was about. She spent about an hour throwing things, and eventually kicked him out for awhile. It's weird.
18. Heh heh heh...
That their obnoxious music played late at night is played through a Bluetooth device that I can control.
Here's a little backstory on how I've found it for those asking. I had purchased an Amazon Echo device and was setting it up when I realized there was a device available to connect to called Vizio Sound bar. I connected to it and played a song from my phone. Instantly I knew I struck gold when the walls started shaking and my wife runs in the room to complain about the neighbors. I said "No babe, that was me. I'm connected to their stereo" Let the petty revenge begin.
19. An apartment full of interesting people
My neighbor next to me has an unhappy relationship. The neighbor above me is gay and has dreams of going to Broadway. He also might be an insomniac.
20. Hey! We all want what we want, even if it's an orgie
My neighbor that lives below us likes to host multi-person sex parties. I was suspicious when a group of dudes showed up after her boyfriend moved out. Loud music was playing, so I figured it was just a party and a group of dudes showed up at the same time. Then the music shuts off in the living, but turns on in the bedroom. Proceed to hear dudes cheering each other on, her asking them to "give her more dick", high fives and other slappy sounds....it was awkward getting the mail the next day as she slowly walked her dog. She looked like she was hurtin.
21. "We appreciate her eccentricities"
Just got my first solo apartment and I'm loving it! Most of the people are my age and really cool....but there is this (Continued)
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Most of the people are my age and really cool....but there is this needle thin probably 50-60 older woman that walks the halls day and night. Every single day. She waits for people to come out of their apartment and then sparks up very strange conversations. Looked out my window the other night at about 1 am and she's wandering around the parking lot picking up cigarette butts and smoking them.
I am always nice and patient with her and as she may have early signs of dementia like people keep telling me She could just be a very odd individual. Either way, I treat her with respect, and appreciate her eccentricities.
22. As if this actually happened!
Ex and I heard neighbors going at it (younger couple around our age). Their bedroom against our bedroom - layouts are mirrored.
We laughed really hard about it at first. Then it got really annoying. So we basically started making all the sex noises at the same time they did. After about couple months of doing the noises to them, I ran into the neighbor getting mail and we both cracked up hard. Came to find out they had heard us having sex first and started making noises. Which we thought was them having sex so for the past few months the 4 of us were literally laying in bed making sex noises at each other through the walls...
23. "You called Julia 'Kari' last night..."
This is about me.
I own a condo now but I used to live in a cheap apartment. At the time I was actively seeing three different girls. I lived next to a family of three (young child) and they were very quiet.
One morning, heading out the door, the mother said to me: "Hey, you called Julia "Kari" last night."
That was how I found out I had thin walls.
24. How many guys can we fit in one dorm room?
There was two women that lived above me. College aged, same as me and my roommate. You could hear everything through the floor. Everything.
The woman above me had lots of sex. And that's fine, but it was always loud and it was always at 4 am or 5 am or some shit. I had to work early a lot of days so it was really really irritating.
So one night, I stand on my bed and hit the ceiling with my shoe and ask them to quiet down. The noise stops but the talking starts.
Guy: "Did you hear that? I think someone was talking to us."
Girl: "Nah. The dude downstairs is probably watching TV."
Me: I am talking to you. The people on the third floor. Please be quiet. I gotta work in a couple hours.
Guy#2: "He's definitely talking to us."
Girl: "No he isn't!"
Me: Wait? Two guys?!
Guy #3: "No. There's three of us."
25. This takes 'we're close' to a whole new level
Sometimes I can actually feel when my neighbor (Continued)
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uses the toilet. If I'm in my bathroom, especially on the toilet, I feel a shift upwards as if they say down at the same table as me.
26. Tensions rising in this household
Everyone seems to have neighbors who have sex a lot. I heard my neighbors get into a fight because she apparently WON'T have sex with her husband anymore. Because of couuuuurse that's her fault and couldn't be anything to do with him.
27. "I know your pooping schedule by heart"
My neighbor poops at 430am and pounds on the wall due to constipation.
28. When in doubt, get 'em with glitter
I'm in a dorm. I know EVERYTHING about the love life of my three neighbors - mostly because they tend to shriek about it at 2 am. Also I know that I can take them down with glitter, as the one time someone put balloons and glitter on their door it started a screaming match between the girls that lasted all day. I have plans.
29. Nosy cops never make good neighbors
That the cop next door is way too nosy.
The kids who lived above me used to throw parties all the time. Loud music, drunken yelling, the works. He thought it was me, and apparently my RF/DC shirt (a parody of the AC/DC logo but for a science thing) was proof enough. He called the cops on me one night when the kids threw a party again.
I open my door in my starwars pajamas to two uncomfortable looking cops. They take one look at me, apologized, and explained the mistake. I found out later it was my neighbor when he got in my face about the noise I was making... it was my sewing machine... at 2 in the afternoon.
30. "It's a coincidence, I swear!"
My neighbors get turned on and have sex after my gf and I have sex.
31. Oooooh this is worth eating dinner cold for
The family living next to me had a teenage daughter and her mom walked in on her laying face down in the bathroom floor trying to take a picture of either her nether regions to send to some 30 something guy she met online. I know all of these details because mom shouted them at dad when he got home from work and berated daughter for hours. Mom also called the police to report the guy asking for the pictures. I ate my supper cold because I didn't want to make microwave noise in the kitchen because mom was on a roll and it was pretty entertaining.
Source for external photo: Shutterstock / Ollyy
I have been left utterly bewildered by what some people believe is acceptable thought, conversation, and behavior.
Like... "Do YOU hear you?"
It shows when a person lacks life experience and/or brain cells.
Words expose everything.
And sometimes shock is all that is left to grapple with.
Redditor nlwfty wanted to hear about all the things people have overheard that left them utterly stunned, so they asked:
"What's the most out-of-touch thing you've heard someone say?"
I once a friend's friend moan about how she and her husband were nearly destitute.
Almost penniless.
All while she was straightening up the house for the new au pair they had just gotten from Columbia.
The Who?
Over It Maid GIFGiphy"My boss once told me to have 'the maid' drop my car at the shop. WTF!!"
amboomernotkaren
Be Happy
"'You won't be happier at work if we pay you more, but we need to figure out why workplace happiness is so low.' This coming from a guy that made 10x what I did and was born into old money."
Dirac_comb
"I had a job that was paying below market rates and 'expected' daily overtime (unpaid, natch) and was trying to figure out how to improve morale. They were considering bringing in consoles and having video game nights after work... as if we weren't stuck there too long already."
"I did have the fun of leaving, then being asked to come back as a contractor to help out, and taking advantage of being on a short-term contract and giving no f**ks to suggest that maybe they should consider at least TRACKING the overtime people were working, even if they weren't going to pay for it since there was probably a whole extra job's worth of hours in there and maybe hiring another person might improve morale and reduce the risk of the kind of errors tired people make."
"Didn't stay long as a temp. Apparently telling the truth and discussing facts with your co-workers isn't good for morale >_< They told everyone I was leaving because I got a better offer (!), but I told everyone exactly what was really happening when they asked XD."
princess_ferocious
It hasn't?
"My dad (who is now the Director of Accounting for the school district I teach for) was talking about how my starting pay was way more than his starting pay."
"I said, 'Well, yeah... The cost of living has increased a ton since then.' This motherf**ker straight up said, 'No it hasn't.'"
"He started working there in 1992. This conversation happened in like 2017 (about a year after I started working there). Again, he is the director of accounting."
pjsans
Move On
"'You seem sad.'"
"My mother to my sister, at her husband's funeral."
blarg-zilla
"My sister's son was murdered. Two weeks later my mom asked her if she was over it yet."
NeverCallMeFifi
"One of my sons was murdered 12 years ago. Many people started telling me that I needed to 'move on' after 4-6 weeks. My brother refuses to say my son's name, so I no longer speak to him. Sending my deepest condolences to your family from a mom who understands losing a child to homicide."
PDXer328
Good Idea!
New Girl Facepalm GIF by HULUGiphy“'I don’t know why people get big mortgages. Just save up for a few months and pay cash for a starter home!'"
Hopeful-Moose87
People with money always seem to have a plan, unless the plan is sharing.
FInd the Treasure
Dragons Den Television GIF by CBCGiphy"When people were complaining about not being able to afford housing/food/living in general, one of the Dutch ministers (I think he was a minister or at least the leader of a party) said something along the line of 'well, find a rich boyfriend then'. ah, yes, that will solve the crisis!"
pastelchannl
Dumbfounded
"I went to an Ivy League college with lots of children of extraordinarily wealthy families. When discussing inequality and its effects on housing, my professor briefly mentioned how mortgages are out of reach for a growing number of Americans. The girl next to me stopped the class, and with a confused face asked the professor why people don’t just buy their homes in cash outright because 'surely the interest means it will cost them more over time.' The professor was dumbfounded. I found out later that she is the heiress to a major luxury brand that you have all heard of."
wildblue2
The Increase
"My former landlord and his wife dropped by to tell me and my financially struggling 20-something roommates that they were raising the rent, by nearly 25%. They said, 'We noticed on Craigslist that neighbors had higher rent so we’re doing the same.' The wife then earnestly reminded us that we’ve been great tenants but maybe we just needed to find some higher-paying jobs. 🙃."
agingcatmom
Not Me
"I was waxing a woman’s eyebrows once and she was complaining that sometimes after she gets a massage the pillow leaves a circular indent on her face and she can’t go out to lunch after. She then asked me if that ever happened to me? I was like ma'am I wax people for eleven bucks an hour; I’m not going out to lunch lol, let alone getting massages."
lomi08
Investments
Money Invest GIF by ProBit GlobalGiphy"Something like: Give a rich person $500 and they will invest it into $1000. Give it to a poor person and they will spend it in a week."
"Yeah exactly give it to someone who’s needs are met and they can save… give it to someone who needs to eat/pay rent etc they will spend it to survive!"
ExaminationLucky6082
You need money to make money.
One of life's biggest lessons apparently.
So someone give me some money.
Do you ever wonder what it must've been like to experience major events throughout world history when reading about them in text books?
But if you take pause and actually think about it, we're living through many newsworthy current events that succeeding generations will be talking about long after we're gone.
Reading about them online or in newspapers is one thing. But seeing them happen unfold before our eyes is another.
Curious to hear from those who'll have anecdotes to tell in the future, Redditor "What is the most historically significant event you witnessed IN PERSON?"
People recall the natural disaster events they've witnessed.
Tremors
"1964 Good Friday Earthquake 9.2 Richter. Was a boy in Cordova, Alaska at the time."
– KitchenLab2536
"My father was skipper of the USCG cutter stationed there. He was inport, and when the quake struck shortly before 5:30pm, he and my mom gathered me and my three siblings on the front porch. At first, it felt like the house was crumbling at the foundation, but on the porch we could plainly see our whole world was shaking. I remember watching telephone poles swaying, and the wires snapping and crackling in the street. The quake lasted about five minutes initially. My dad got his ship underway to avoid the tidal wave which was sure to come. We had several aftershocks in the coming weeks, some of which were quite strong, though nowhere near as strong or as long as the quake itself. I was seven at the time."
– KitchenLab2536
Collapsing Freeway
"October 17th, 1989. I watched the 880 Nimitz freeway collapse during the San Francisco earthquake. The Honda in front of me had the upper deck crush her front-end engine compartment. The mother and her daughter were shaken up but completely fine."
"I was driving a convertible Triumph Spitfire, which was scratched up slightly from debris. However, I walked away unscathed. Aside from the fact I pissed my pants, which I didn't notice until much later."
– CatDaddyWhisper
Thar She Blows
"I sat on the roof of our house and watched Mt. St. Helens erupt less than 100 miles away."
– stinkykitty71
"This must have been fascinating and terryfing in equal measure. What a thing to witness."
– runrossyrun
"It was amazing! The ash that covered everything like snow was interesting to kid me, but less so to my parents."
– stinkykitty71
People recall seeing major catastrophes as a result of malfunctions or judgement errors.
Bomber Crash
"The b-52 crash that led to changing what large military aircraft are allowed to do for airshows."
"I didn't see the plane, but immediately saw the fireball. It was just a perfect, bright red turning to black mushroom cloud."
"Fairchild is a nuclear air base and there were a few minutes there where I was sure the world was about to end."
"A few years before a KC-135 doing the same thing crashed near the school while we were in class."
– goffstock
Tragic Takeoff
"I was standing on my front porch watching the launch of the Challenger."
– StarChaser_Tyger
"Was riding in my parents car to a basketball game in the next town over in north texas when we saw a shooting star and thought that was neat."
"It was the Columbia..."
– Misdirected_Colors
Demolition Gone Wrong
"The failed implosion of the Zip feed mill in Sioux Falls, SD in 2005."
"They hyped it up, sold tickets to it, had a big 'BOOM' marketing thing, and broadcast it live on TV."
"The explosives took out the main supports on the first floor, and the rest of the building above it just plopped down 10ft or so and came to a rest. It was a massive failure, and was a funny little blurb on news stations around the world that day. Definitely not major news, just the rest of the world taking 20 seconds to laugh at us."
"The building sat like that (the leaning tower of SuFu) for quite a while until they figured out how to safely demolish it."
"Here's a clip of the failed demolition."
– KitchenBandicoots
These well-known historical events were seen by very few who are alive today.
Historical Remnant
"The tumbling of the Wall in Germany… along with people selling bits and pieces of it on tables in lobby in front of commissary and px in the following weeks and months. I had picked up a chunk about the size of an oreo and kept it… has blue spray paint on the flat side. Wonder if anyone is buying them now?"
– SingedPenguin13
Major Upheaval
"I would have to say the LA riots. I lived about two blocks from where it started. I was on my way home from school and saw someone throw a brick through a window. I didn’t even wait. I just started running the whole way home."
– Scarlaymama0721
Day Of Infamy
"9/11, I could SMELL the collapse of the towers."
– go4tli
"A friend of mine was there. One day in the warehouse we worked in together there was an odd electrical burning smell. He stopped in his tracks and went 'this is what 9/11 smelled like.'"
– mantistoboggan287
I didn't physically witness the fall of the World Trade Center but I was living in New York City at the time.
However, I did see the smoke.
I was living up north in Washington Heights at the time and knowing what happened, uncertain of what was to come, and seeing the plumes of smoke from the attack site was the most ominous sight I've ever seen in my life to date.
Have you ever lived through a historic moment or witnessed something sure to be noted in history books? Let us know in the comments below.
