I am a somewhat recently new homeowner, moved into my home last year. My driveway is gravel, and if you are not familiar with gravel driveways, during the spring and summer months you have to spray them regularly with weed/grass killer to keep your driveway from becoming an extension of your lawn. I have been doing this about weekly since I moved in and it has been maintaining my driveway in good condition.
I noticed immediately when I moved in that the neighborhood kids will use my driveway as a cut through to get to their friends’ houses–my driveway backs up to another neighbor’s backyard on another street and it is essentially a shortcut. I want to be clear that I have no issue with the kids doing this, but I was a little bit peeved that the parents didn’t even ask me when I moved in as a courtesy. It’s clear they have been doing this for a while with the previous owners, but I still think it would have been respectful of them to make sure it is ok with me to continue. But whatever, no harm, no foul. Until today.
I sprayed my driveway as usual early this afternoon. As I was finishing up, the kids cut through. I stopped spraying while they were there, waved hello, and resumed once they had cleared the area. Thought that was the end of it, but I just got off the phone with a VERY angry mother of one of the kids. She told me I have no right to be spraying my driveway with harsh chemicals when there are children in the vicinity. I told her I have been doing this for nearly a year now, and it is necessary for me to maintain MY property. I respectfully and politely informed her that if she has an issue with her kids being exposed to the chemicals, then they can find another way to their friends’ house that does not involve cutting through my driveway. That is when she REALLY doubled down and had the audacity to tell me that her kids have been using my driveway as a cut-through for much longer than I have lived in the home, and I have no right to come in and change the status quo. I then said that I have no issue with her kids using the driveway, but unless she would like to purchase the home from me and start paying my mortgage, she has no right to tell me what I can and cannot spray on my driveway, then hung up. I fear I have now made an enemy of my neighbors and it’s about to get worse, and am regretting not simply apologizing and sucking it up.
So AITA for spraying my driveway and refusing to stop when asked by a neighbor?