When Malicious Compliance Backfires: The Student Housing Noise Complaint Saga
Living in student housing is a rite of passage—endless ramen, questionable décor, and, of course, the thin walls that make you intimately familiar with your neighbors’ schedules. But what happens when a well-intentioned building manager’s policy on noise complaints leads to a four-page dossier of footsteps, showers, and scraped chairs? You get a story that’s equal parts hilarious, relatable, and just a little bit heartbreaking.
Redditor u/deepestpokes recently shared their rollercoaster journey of “malicious compliance” in the r/MaliciousCompliance subreddit, and the results were as loud as their neighbor’s midnight furniture rearrangements. This cautionary tale will have you rethinking your next noise complaint—and maybe investing in some earplugs.
The Setup: When Is a Vacuum Too Loud?
Our protagonist lives in Uppsala student housing—think charming old buildings, wafer-thin walls, and a symphony of “normal living noises.” Trouble started brewing when the upstairs neighbor filed not one but two complaints: once for vacuuming at 8pm on a Saturday (scandalous!), and once for having a normal-volume kitchen conversation at 10:30pm on a weeknight.
In marches the building manager, wielding the full weight of the “quiet hours” rulebook (10pm-7am, if you’re taking notes). He’s not just enforcing rules—he’s enforcing lifestyles. Our hero tried to defend their case, but the manager’s response? If someone complains, he has to follow up, and maybe—just maybe—our Redditor should “examine their lifestyle choices.” Ouch.
But here’s where it gets spicy: The manager suggests, with all the wisdom of someone who’s never lived in a student dorm, to “document every incident” if there are concerns about noise. Challenge accepted.
The Malicious Compliance: Dossier of Decibels
Armed with a notepad and a mission, u/deepestpokes began chronicling every upstairs sound for three weeks. The result? Four glorious pages of timestamped noise:
- Footsteps at 6:45am (the early bird stomps the worm)
- TV at 11:15pm (late-night Netflix, anyone?)
- Chair scraping at 1:30am (midnight furniture feng shui)
- Shower at 6:20am (cleanliness never sleeps)
You get the idea. Every thump, splash, and drag was immortalized in ink.
When the building manager received this magnum opus, his response was a masterclass in backpedaling: “This is excessive” and “normal living noises aren’t violations.” But a rule’s a rule, and per policy, the complaint—and all four pages—had to be shared with the upstairs neighbor.
The Fallout: When Compliance Gets Too Real
Here’s where the comedy turns bittersweet. The upstairs neighbor, a stressed PhD student, was mortified to see the exhaustive list of her daily movements. In a note slipped under the door, she confessed the list made her cry—she hadn’t realized her every step was audible. Now, she tiptoes in socks and feels anxious in her own home.
In the end, the building manager sent a generic email about “community living expectations” and “mutual respect,” which, as anyone who’s ever received an all-hands-on-deck HR memo knows, solved absolutely nothing.
Lessons in Living (and Laughing) with Thin Walls
This story isn’t just a comedy of errors—it’s a masterclass in the perils of bureaucracy, the realities of communal living, and the unintended consequences of playing by the rules a little too well.
A few takeaways for anyone living in apartment hell:
- Normal living noises are… normal. If you can hear your neighbor’s entire life story, chances are they can hear yours, too. Empathy goes a long way.
- Building managers are not therapists. Sometimes, their policies create more problems than they solve.
- Malicious compliance is a double-edged sword. Sure, you might make a point—but you might also make someone cry. Proceed with caution (and maybe a touch of humor).
- Documenting everything is exhausting. Unless you’re aiming for a Pulitzer in “Domestic Soundscapes,” it’s probably not worth the stress.
The Real Solution: Communication > Complaints
If there’s a moral to this story, it’s that a friendly conversation beats a four-page complaint every time. Maybe knock on your neighbor’s door with a smile (and maybe some cookies) before involving the authorities—or at least before writing your magnum opus of stomps and squeaks.
Have you ever experienced a neighborly noise war? Or have your own story of malicious compliance gone awry? Share your tales in the comments—because if thin walls have taught us anything, it’s that we’re all in this together (noisy or not).
What’s the wildest thing you’ve heard through your apartment walls? Drop your stories below and let’s commiserate!
Original Reddit Post: document every noise complaint, so I did