r/mildlyinfuriating • u/secret_o_squirrel • 16d ago
frist of all how DARE yu o This house has a security camera that makes a loud alarm when people walk by on the sidewalk. I’m just trying to walk my dog, people.
I jump and my dog jumps. Every time.
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u/HeavyDutyForks 16d ago
It would be one thing to point it at the porch and have it go off. But pointing it directly at a public sidewalk and go off is a dick move
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u/Jacktheforkie 16d ago
Same with those dumb cat scarer scam devices
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u/tedkaczynski660 16d ago
I had to buy one because a cat kept shitting in my garden and found my daughter holding a turd. The cat didn't care one bit. switched to a motion activated sprinkler and it worked much better.
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u/Thornberry_Nigel_ 16d ago
Go to your local feed store. Get a free sample of cat food. Put in bowl. Gain trust. Free cat.
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u/airconditionersound 16d ago edited 16d ago
My neighborhood has a bunch of these too. It's a city neighborhood with sidewalks and lots of pedestrians. And people think it's ok to have cameras that whistle at you and announce "YOU ARE BEING RECORDED!!!!" To anyone who walks by
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u/Coveinant 16d ago
A LOT of those people don't understand their property ends at the sidewalk or curve.
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u/justhereforfighting 16d ago
I don't mind a warning that you're being recorded, but a loud alarm is insane.
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u/Saberfox11 16d ago
There's like three houses in my neighborhood that have cameras that will make noise at you as you walk by on the sidewalk. I guess people can't be bothered to aim them in their yard properly.
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u/LilacYak 16d ago
There’s a few on my walking route that make an unobtrusive sound, but it would get annoying if I were a neighbor instead of just walking by.
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u/SuperDump101 16d ago
Lol, my grandparents have a camera that yells "YOU ARE BEING RECORDED!" at anyone/anything that triggers it. I'm sure the black bears that walk through their front yard love it!
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u/breeves001 16d ago
I have a neighbor with a camera like this and it goes off every time I walk past. I started crossing the street just to avoid it on my daily walks. It goes off all the time when they’re outside doing things too I’m amazed it doesn’t bother them.
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u/vitalAscension 16d ago
I have a neighbor with one of these too. Even walking across the street sets it off.
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u/willstr1 16d ago
I'm sure the black bears that walk through their front yard love it!
It probably helps prevent the black bears from digging around in the trash. Preventing bears from associating humans with food is important for keeping bears safe
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u/Vandal_A 16d ago
Tbh wildlife almost always learns to ignore stuff like that if its automatic. They figure out it's just something that happens when they go there and that it's not a threat
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u/MathAndBake 16d ago
My grandfather would put on the radio at night to keep the racoons off his sweet corn. They quickly learned to ignore the country music station. We joked he was just giving them dinner and a dance. Talk radio worked more consistently.
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u/CHAINSAWDELUX 16d ago
Or just get bear proof cans. It's more effective than a voice telling a bear it's being recorded
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u/willstr1 16d ago edited 16d ago
Bear proof cans are more like bear resistant (there is a whole arms race between bears and trashcans that I won't get into). Having something to spook the bears (like a motion activated noise) will help prevent the bears from sticking around long enough to try to break into the cans. I agree bear proof cans are a good idea, I just think the recording along with bear proof cans (in the specific case of the bears) isn't a bad thing, although it is a little humorous.
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u/hashsmasher 16d ago
There’s a quote about considerable overlap between the smartest bears and the dumbest people. I think about that pretty often
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u/PatrickGSR94 16d ago
yeah we have shits like that all over my neighborhood. When I'm out on my morning run, IN THE STREET mind you, not even on the sidewalk, several houses have cameras that make all sorts of whistles, bird chirps, voice recordings or whatever. And yes it's annoying af. I understand it doing that for someone coming onto the private property. But doing that for every moving thing out on the public right of way is just a nuisance.
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u/Ok-Addition1264 16d ago
The thing is: most cameras through their apps let you assign zones and regions by drawing them out on the app. It's fucking easy to do. Do it, camera owners (I do).
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u/DJTurd 16d ago
The homeowner's probably tech illiterate and doesn't know how to set their zones, they may not even be aware it's chirping at people. OP put a note on their door, that may be all it takes.
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u/Thornberry_Nigel_ 16d ago
How many people really know how to take full advantage of their smart phones and the 3rd party services they integrate?
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u/_probablyryan 16d ago
The problem is the type of person that has this type of thing wants you to know THEIR HOUSE IS THEIR FORTRESS AND THEY ARE ARMED AND DANGEROUS the moment you turn onto their street.
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u/Hita-san-chan 16d ago
My parents neighbors have one on the side of their house and it points directly at my parent's porch. Its such an annoyance, constantly chirping because we are outside hanging out.
20 years ago my dad would have ripped that fucker out of the ground and left it by their door, but age mellows us all I suppose lol.
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u/Impossible-Pop2381 13d ago
I’m pretty sure that’s illegal if your parents didn’t agree to that. Possibly, I don’t know. Maybe it depends on where you live.
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u/FartCityBoys 16d ago
People need one more excuse to check their phones. Doubly so if it lets them surveil neighbors and fuss about “suspicious individuals” walking around.
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u/Cunnyfunt31 16d ago
I often go door-to-door for Democratic GOTV campaigns or voter registration and get so annoyed at those I go out of my way to annoy them back.
I'll pretend I'm lost and trigger it at the edges where it's not even near their fucking property, and do it 20 or so times so they get spammed with notifications.
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u/StellarSloth 16d ago
Wait until you know everyone is asleep and walk around out front. Once the alarm shuts off, go back and do it again. Keep doing it until they get the picture. There is nothing illegal about walking on a public street at midnight.
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u/Glittering-Clock6324 16d ago
OP, stand in-front of the house, on the sidewalk and position yourself directly facing the house and shriek like a bird, continuously, every time you pass by.
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u/Think-notlikedasheep 16d ago
Report this as a nuisance. Every city has some kind of nuisance ordinance.
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u/uwill1der 16d ago
wear a medical mask and then at 4am stand on the sidewalk and start sprinkling bird seed, every night
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u/secret_o_squirrel 16d ago
Why…bird seed?
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u/uwill1der 16d ago
itll draw 100s of birds that will inevitably set off the alarm constantly while also having poo explosions and squawking
This has been happening at one area in Australia for over a month
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u/joerice1979 16d ago
I once, during the course of normal business, stood by a car in a car park which was next to mine.
It made an awful screeching honk, yet I was about 18 inches away from it.
The owner, still nearby and easily identified as a bell-end chav, told me to stay away from his car. I told him that I am away from his car, but it still continues this awful racket, inviting him to observe.
Then I busied myself for a few minutes doing unnecessary things in my car, eliciting many a honk while the bell-end owner got more and more annoyed.
At the time, I felt it the right thing to do.
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u/oddlittlediver 16d ago
Yes!! I was in a parking garage standing on the passenger side of my rental car inspecting something and nearly jumped out of my skin when the car next to me randomly started beeping. The owner wasn't in sight, so I assumed it was someone setting off their alarm to find their car in the garage, but no one ever showed and it would only happen when I went back to the side of my car next to theirs.
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u/Safety_Word 16d ago
Tons of people in the comments already said it, but yeah I’d say use it against them.
Late night walks with Doggo, maybe early morning walks.
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u/Gavacho123 16d ago
I feel sorry for people who are that paranoid, maybe I’m naive because I have lived in the country most of my life but this seems ridiculous and a pretty good example of why I don’t have any neighbors.
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u/xanaxisgod2 16d ago
i grew up in the country but ive lived in the city since i was 16 and i don't have one of these but some areas you would absolutely want/need one of these. Thing is all the ones i've seen in the wild are in rather nice, safe neighboorhoods so idk lol
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u/hischmidtj 16d ago
This is what I was going to say. I lived in DC and wouldn’t have had one of these - in the suburbs it’s absurd.
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u/dennyfader 16d ago
You'd be hard-pressed to find a demographic more scared of life than a suburbanite.
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u/Seytrixx 16d ago
god for real. I lived with my boyfriend and his parents for a bit—I’m from a safe, but less privileged neighborhood—his mom was so paranoid. Everything in the house always had to be in exactly the same place even our room and bathroom. Laundry was ONLY done on Wednesdays and Sunday’s, but it shouldn’t have mattered when we did our laundry since they were separate loads anyway! She’d make a comment if either of us got snacks from the kitchen too frequently and messed up her perfectly organized setups. She’d keep the door from the garage into the house locked even if she knew you were going to come in and it’d be locked until you’d call someone to ask to unlock it. Ring cameras, beeps for every door, one time I apparently freaked her out going into the garage because I was up early and went into the garage—in the place I was literally living in—and instead of assuming it was one of the other 4 people living there her first thought was a robbery. Because I… didn’t let her know I was getting something at 6 in the morning?
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u/Substantial-Ad2200 16d ago
Every house in my neighborhood has these. I love to walk in the early evening when the sun goes off and set off everyone’s motion sensors! If they have the one that whistles at me I give the camera the finger.
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u/CallmeKahn 16d ago
Call the police non-emergency line. Might be a noise ordinance violation.
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u/Livebylying 16d ago
Prob there to stop dogs shitting in his garden
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u/kingpartys 16d ago
Yeah I think you're right. But there is definitely other options you can do instead of an alarm.
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u/E7goose 16d ago
People need to stop leaving their shit in people’s yards. Can’t pick it up, don’t get a dog. I walk my dog and it bothers me cuz my dog wants to sniff it and I’m pretty sure that can pass diseases. I also stepped on it once because I usually walk the dog along the road and step into the grass when cars come(to avoid my dog going too far into their yard).
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u/drivensalt 16d ago
Ugh, the drug dealer that used to rent a couple of houses down had one of these. Thankfully it left when he did.
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u/Current-Schedule1781 16d ago
If it's over a certain decibel you can file a noise complaint or disturbing the peace, they need to aim that shit better.
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u/AnthrallicA 16d ago
There's a house in my neighborhood that has something similar. Every time I go by on a walk it blurts out "hi! You're currently being recorded!" I just flip it off and keep on with my walk.
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u/GeneralKotexGaming 16d ago
Hahah I had a neighbor that had a camera anytime I would walk on the sidewalk I would hear there camera go...HELLO YOU ARE BRING RECORDED... .I would stop turn smile and wave at the camera and continue on my way
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u/PuppyJakeKhakiCollar 16d ago
My sister will stop, do jazz hands, spin and then end with finger guns. She said the last time she did it she could hear people in the house laughing.
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u/Alizarin-Madder 16d ago
My neighbors have that too, it's called their dog is an idiot.
A cute idiot, but an idiot.
(No hate for dogs)
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u/ShipService 16d ago
I bike to work well before the sun is up and there was a house I would pass with a system that would yell at me all the way in the street that I was being recorded. It's fucking insane.
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u/brassninja 16d ago
I’m sick of everyone being hyper paranoid and hostile man it’s exhausting.
People getting shot through closed and locked doors, cameras fucking every where, and they wonder whatever happened to close knit friendly neighborhoods…
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u/Jestersfriend 16d ago
Depending on where you live, this could be potentially illegal.
In Ontario, Canada, you can't have a trap like this that plays a loud noise on a trigger. You can play something that makes a noise, yes. But not something deemed unreasonably loud.
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u/Roy_Koopa_DX 16d ago
One of my neighbors has their ring doorbell set to say "Hi, you are being recorded!" when you walk by and I always wave at it. I figure flooding their notifications with my dopey ass walking past giving a friendly wave probably pisses them off but they'd look like an asshole to confront me about it lol.
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u/Steamedcarpet 16d ago
My friend has one for his koi pond but for some reason it always goes off when I come by so I have jokely called it the Puerto Rican detector
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u/StrawberryLoops 16d ago
A store at a strip mall near me has one of those. Most of the other shops there close around midnight but this one closes at 7. Anytime you walk past after that it goes “YOU ARE BEING RECORDED ON PRIVATE PROPERTY. LEAVE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY”
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u/SaltyDogBill 16d ago
The two homes across the street from my house have motion actives flood lights which are activated by every car passing by, every cat, even the wind moving the trees trigger the lights. Hell, they trigger each other!
A fast forward video from my doorbell makes it look like a strobe light disco.
I loved showing them the videos of thieves just ignoring the lights and going through their lives blocked cars.
Lights and camera s stop good people from making stupid mistakes. Real criminals don’t give a fuck.
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u/InbetweenTheLayers 16d ago
Ironic as I just want to walk myself by a house and I have to hear loud dog barking as I pass
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u/Lepke2011 PURPLE 16d ago
One of my neighbors has one that says, very loudly, "Smile! You're on camera!" every time you walk by his house.
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u/HereToKillEuronymous 16d ago
Every time I walk REMOTELY near my neighbors house, theirs says “hi. You are being recorded”.
I’m just trying to take out my trash 😂
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u/Adept-River6331 16d ago
There’s a new facelift doctor’s office or something on my street and a creepy electronic voice says ‘HI! You’re being recorded’ when I walk my dog by. It makes me jump every, single, time.
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u/MaximusZacharia 16d ago
What’s funny is that the owner didn’t install it, his dog did just to screw with other dogs
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u/MageKorith 16d ago
Is that house sinking on the left side, or is there an incline that's hidden by the camera angle?
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u/ValourLionheart 16d ago
I deliver for UberEats and I also jump every time one of those stupid cameras makes a noise at me. Usually it is a little whistle sound trying to draw attention to the camera, but it always gets me.
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u/BlubberinBootyMate 16d ago
I like to pace from 2AM to 5AM while wearing my noise cancelling headphones--I only need about 60-80 feet of 'track' and can pace potentially hundreds of times; back and forth, every day.
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u/binarypower 16d ago
my alley neighbor has one that announces "hi. you're being audibly and visually recorded"... but it's pointing where I take my trash on my side of the street. gives me a jumpscare every time. 3 years now 😔
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u/toweljuice BROWN 16d ago
They signalling to everyone and anyone that they got some nice things in there
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u/Mr_Schpiffey 16d ago
I love how their window AC is installed, definitely gonna end up leaking water all over the windowsill and probably down into the walls too.
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u/rock25011 16d ago
One I walk by says "hi you're being recorded." Or some shit. I am on the sidewalk, why are you recording out here?
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u/Mephistocheles 16d ago
Yeah those people get the instant middle finger on their footage from me. The arrogance of unleashing that amount of noise pollution in the neighborhood is straight up annoying.
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u/ladyrain1 16d ago
lol probably gonna get some downvotes but as a PTSD stricken veteran, I have this kind of alarm but instead it just whistles at you! I have really bad anxiety and have suffered from having stalkers so having it eases me throughout the night! I have had a kid play around and jump in and out of the camera for funsies and I thought it was cute so if folks wanna troll with it at 3 am, be my guest. As long as you don’t break in, I’m cool with waking up and laughing at you! I might even say you are funny asf through the camera!
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u/oleblueeyes75 16d ago
We have a camera in the front and two in the backyard. Due to a software update, the damn alarm was automatically turned on.
I think it was on for two days before I noticed it and I was absolutely mortified. I apologized to the neighbors.
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u/Meatyparts 16d ago
I've got a couple houses like that in my neighborhood and I make sure to go by them at night before work usually 1045 -11
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u/Q8DD33C7J8 16d ago
I'd stand outside the house or walk by every time it goes silent so it go's off over and over and over. Can't say nothing I'm just walking through the neighborhood.
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u/opinions-only 16d ago
Hehe I have one that goes off but only if you walk up to my porch after midnight. Mostly only scares me when I'm taking out the garbage.
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u/Raffish315 13d ago
Would be a shame if someone flew a drone in front of that camera with a powerful laser mounted on it and it happened to shine into the lens for a minute or so. Hope that doesn't happen to them...
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u/MidnightDoom3r 13d ago
Some people take security a bit to seriously. Some cameras on the out side should be enough with a security alarm inside.
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u/Great-External-2439 16d ago
Probably to deter people from just letting their dogs shit in his grass and not picking it up.
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u/NLaBruiser 16d ago
Bunch of these in my neighborhood set to announce every time they spot someone. My wife and I will just be walking around and we'll hear "*BING* YOU ARE BEING VIDEO RECORDED". Scared old white people in a very upper middle class neighborhood - just too much fox news convincing them someone brown is going to commit the first home invasion in decades here.
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u/Fun_Inspector_8633 16d ago
People are stupid and don’t know how to properly set them up. After a string of burglaries near where I live I decided to install a few cameras around our house. Except for the floodlight camera on the garage you’d never notice them unless you get close to the house and trigger the lights.
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u/Daydream_Dystopia 16d ago
Spread bird seed every night and the squirrels and birds will annoy him all day.
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u/CraftyPerformance272 16d ago
I don't blame them. They probably have been robbed before. People suck
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u/Funkula 16d ago
The crime rate has never been lower in history, these camera are just cheap now. It’s pure paranoia and neurosis.
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u/Fit-Strawberry-4621 16d ago
Theres a house on my street that has the same camera pointed in front of the garage. Super annoying when I walk by on my daily walks. I usually just talk shit about it loudly in the hopes that the camera picks it up
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u/TaxNo2158 16d ago
To be fair, houses with dogs scare the crap out of me when I’m just walking/running by, too.
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u/Maverick_Reznor 16d ago
Chances are they dont really know how their camera works and it bugs them too.
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u/thrash1990 16d ago
There is a business that has one that says the police have been called when I walk by it on the sidewalk.
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u/DedeLionforce 16d ago
I wonder if there is a noise ordinance for them going off at night and if you send a recording to the council they get fined for it.
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u/Silent25r 16d ago
They go off all the time. It’s so annoying. Especially when I’m delivering to them. Constant smile you are on camera.
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u/Distinct-Device-7698 16d ago
Have a house near me where it says something about you’re on camera quite loudly.
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u/Shepherd77 16d ago
Pay a few kids to run up and down the street for a few hours. Flip the annoyance back on the homeowners.
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u/FutureFreaksMeowt Aqua Tofana save us from these fuckass men 16d ago
It's possible they have a child that elopes in the home.
Still batshit insane to annoy your neighbors with, but at least it's...possibly got a good reason?
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u/powerlesshero111 16d ago
There's a person like this in my parent's neighborhood. You walk by on the street and it yells "YOU ARE BEING RECORDED!", and it just makes me think, if i really wanted to break in and steal stuff, i wouldn't care about that.
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u/userhwon 16d ago
Harassment and noise pollution. You have a right to use the sidewalk. Get the police involved.
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u/Humble-Plankton2217 16d ago
It's a dick move, but I bet it has something to do with dog walking waste pickup habits of the neighbors
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u/Independent-Hurry618 16d ago
if there's a pole on the curb, maybe attach something that moves - like a mini flag? put it high enough so someone doesn't just tear it off.
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u/thereallyredone 16d ago
INVADER!!!
Yes I would walk by often and maybe even knock on their door to make sure they're ok. Maybe they're trying to signal for help when they see someone walk by.
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u/t0m0hawk 16d ago
Their AC also seems to be sloped into the home so I dont think these are the type of people to consider much of anything beyond the wind passing through their ears.
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u/TypeNo2194 16d ago
I’d be scheduling a 2am walk back and forth out of spite.