WHO IS THE REAL A--HOLE?

The biggest neighbour story percolating thru the media right now has to be the ongoing stupidity about Ashton Kutcher and his neighbour, some screenwriter that nobody has ever heard of.

It all started with Aston went on a rant Thursday about construction noise at 7:30am. The trouble is, he recorded and broadcast his rant over Twitter and posted video online. As it turns out most folks were not as supportive as I guess he thought they would be. He probably should have also checked local construction noise regulations, because it has since been confirmed local bylaws allow for construction to occur anytime after 7am and all the necessary permits were in place.

The next step was the backtrack, claiming it was all a joke. When that didn't work out as intended Ashton finally stepped up to the plate and apologized for calling his neighbour a "dickw--d a--hole" and "a--clown" and promised to be more tolerant in the future. It seems the neighbour was subject to some serious and long term construction noise from their side of the fence recently due to a $3,000,000 renovation and didn't bat an eyelash.

Word of advice? Keep your mouth shut and buy some earplugs. While this story only hit the airwaves due to the celebrity status of the participants similar conflicts (perhaps sans the video rant) erupt between neighbours all the time. It is very easy to justify the construction noise when it is the leaky roof on your house being repaired. It becomes critically important to step back and look at actions from the perspective of a bystander.

For example, its a beautiful Saturday and you head out into your backyard with the intention to mow the lawn. You notice your neighbour next door is just sitting down on their patio for a meal with their family. Stop and think. Do you really need to mow the lawn at that minute? Can it wait an hour or until tomorrow? Trust me your neighbour will appreciate it.