As the saying goes, "Good fences make good neighbors". But what happens when those neighbors are also your friends?
The lines between friendship and neighborly relations can often become blurred, especially when it comes to sharing amenities and household responsibilities.
For more than a decade, Claire and her spouse shared a street with Kevin and Leah.
They had always been cordial, frequently hanging around and even sharing meals and beverages.
In addition to being wealthier than Claire's family, Kevin and Leah had a pool in their backyard, which Claire's kids frequently used during the hot summer months.
Claire reasoned that since she would be watching the house while the couple was gone, her kids should have access to the pool when they announced that they would be taking an interstate trip for their summer vacation.
"I was surprised when they said no because it was not what I was expecting. We had always been welcome to use the pool before and were always invited over for a swim, so I wasn't sure why we couldn't now," the mother said.
After Claire emphasized the issue, the couple reluctantly revealed their apprehensions regarding the unsupervised use of the pool and the potential liabilities that it entailed.
Kevin and Leah firmly believed that as the owners, they held the ultimate responsibility for maintaining a safe environment for anyone using the pool.
Their stance, although understandable from a liability perspective, greatly irked their neighbors and strained their relationship further.
However, Claire found it difficult to comprehend their standpoint.
She argued that if they trusted her family enough to entrust them with the responsibilities of house-sitting, collecting mail, and taking out the rubbish bins regularly, then surely they could be trusted to use the pool responsibly as well.
A recent Reddit post detailed a similar situation surrounding the use of a neighbor's swimming pool.
The Reddit user described how their neighbors had been pressuring them for access to their pool based on an agreement made with the previous owners of the house.
According to the post, the pool had been open to neighborhood kids and adults, with the gate always left open and arrangements made for maintenance and payment.
However, the current homeowner expressed discomfort with this arrangement, emphasizing their privacy preference and not wanting anyone to freely access their backyard.
Despite their clear refusal, the neighbors persisted in their requests, repeatedly approaching the homeowner and attempting to persuade them.
