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Dear Prudence: Our neighborhood has gotten out of control. What can we do?
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56% Informative
A young woman moved into one of the houses in our cul-de-sac that was available for rent, with her two pitbulls.
She started doing some yard work for our elderly neighbors, and when I suggested to my husband that we could use some help with our yard as well, he broached concerns he had about her.
He suspected that she had a history of using drugs and believed she might still be using based off of her appearance, mannerisms, and desire for cash-in-hand work.
A package of his neighbor's was stolen off their front porch late at night , clearly by Kelsey ! He considered calling the police but opted to confront her directly.
I don't think it's crossing the line if you share with them what happened with Kelsey and the other house’s packages.
Give them a drop-in and say hi a few times, and see if you can get a sense for how they feel about Kelsey 's help.
The goal here is not to try to sniff out whether Kelsey is abusing drugs or stealing from more people, but to make yourself available as a friendly neighbor.
Dear Prudence : Is it worth asking a friend to hire a cleaner? Not a beggar, nor a chooser, should I say anything at all or shut up and be grateful? You are allowed to say something, but you have to be extremely direct.
If she's weird about it in any way, you can say, "I'm so sorry, but I'm going to stay somewhere else".
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