I live on the first floor of a two-story apartment complex. The buildings have four units apiece, two above and two below, all four with patios. My neighbor upstairs is a law student and she smokes, I recently found out. She's a nice person for the limited interaction I have with her, but one thing bothers me - when she sits on the patio to read, she coughs... a lot. She's an early riser (well before when I get up) so her coughing echoes into the court space between the apartment buildings and it's loud enough for me to hear and be awakened - and I don't like having my sleep interrupted. Her coughing could be the sign of a serious medical condition but it would be out of place for me to comment on that. How should I handle this? Common sense would suggest I speak kindly with her, but what do I say? Worse, what if she does nothing about it? Or retaliates? I shouldn't have to plug my ears; what if my smoke alarm or phone goes off and I don't hear it? Nor should I have to move.
2006-10-31
18:16:12
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13 answers
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asked by
Anonymous
in
Etiquette