Things seem to be getting heated between a man and his neighbor after she demanded that he stop cooking after nine o'clock.
Taking to the notorious 'Am I The A**hole' thread on Reddit, a user going by the name @OpticalInfusion, decided to share his story about how the woman next door tried to restrict him from cooking past a certain time.
"My neighbor has asked me not to cook after 9PM because the smell bothers her and her husband next door," he started the post before giving readers further details about his situation.
"I am on a diet and basically cook chicken with salt/pepper/garlic and zucchini/squash every night around 8-11PM," he continued. "I eat two meals a day which I cook in my home. I also work multiple jobs."
"I understand that smelling the same thing every day can be repetitive, however, it seems thoroughly unreasonable to ask somebody to change their life schedule in their own home to accommodate your preference."
He went on to say that the neighbor even offered him some unsolicited advice: "She even suggested that I meal prep and only eat reheated food at night."
He then asked: "I am adhering to all building rules and am well within my rights to refuse this request, but AITA for doing so?"
"NTA," replied one user. "Smelling what other people are cooking is not unusual in apartment life. This doesn't give you the right to tell others not to cook."
"It's wildly inappropriate to ask a neighbor to not cook after 9PM," another chimed in. "Short of you jumping up and down, singing, and banging pots and pans while you're cooking.... There's no reason you can't cook at any point during a 24 hour period."
"NTA," agreed a third. "You have every right to go about the daily activities of life in your own apartment. If they are bothered by the smell, she should buy an air purifier for their apartment. Or ask the landlord if they can move to a different unit."
However, while others agreed that he was not in fact the a**hole, they did advise him to "accomodate."
"Guess if you have a wild work schedule you'll have to check in with the neighbor first to make sure it's okay. Part of living in apartments is dealing with others and accommodating to a certain degree," this user wrote, though they did add that the neighbor's request seemed "inappropriate."
And this user stated that they could somewhat emphathize with the neighbor.
"I mean, I do GET where they are coming from - my husband cooks (with a lot of garlic) at all hours of the day and night. It always wakes me up and sometimes makes me feel kind of sick - I'm very sensitive to smells. I've never complained about it (other than when I've been pregnant - c'mon!) because I figure that is a 'ME problem."
"I can't even IMAGINE asking someone in a different apartment to quit cooking!"
What do you think?
