Untidy Mom Leaves Halloween Decorations Out For A Year, Neighbor Buys Party Decors To Celebrate The Rotten Pumpkin's First Birthday

"I'm not going to die on a hill of pumpkins. I'm not simmering in rage every time I see gourds."

Chelsi

• Published in Halloween
• October 2, 2023

A Redditor shares a porch with her neighbor, who is notoriously untidy. The family once left a broken longboard in front of their door for seven months instead of throwing it in the trash.

They had to step on or walk around it to get to their unit but didn't seem to mind. OP asked the neighbor's 15-year-old son to please clean it up, and he thankfully listened to her.

In all their years of living beside each other, OP has only seen her neighbor sweep their shared porch once. OP took it upon herself to tidy their porch to prevent it from getting too dingy.

The Halloween a year before OP's post, she bought several sugar pumpkins and placed them next to her jack-o-lanterns to liven up the porch. OP disposed of all of them in the unused wooded area next to their apartment complex right after the celebrations.

The next day, one of OP's sugar pumpkins reappeared on her neighbor's side of the porch. It was weird, but OP was glad her neighbors were so amused by the pumpkin.

The other holidays are long gone, yet the pumpkin remains to haunt OP. A year later, another Halloween is about to pass — the sugar pumpkin is still there.

You can't even recognize that the rotten thing used to be a pumpkin

OP wants to celebrate the pumpkin's first birthday

She doesn't want to clean it herself out of principle. She no longer wants to be her neighbor's unofficial porch cleaning lady.

Her husband thinks they should just clean it themselves, but OP wants to have fun with the pumpkin...

... or what was left of it

It would be ridiculously petty, but OP should still do it!

Her neighbor may be annoyed, they could find it funny, or they will finally start cleaning up after themselves

OP should be ready in case this starts a war between their units

OP can write her neighbor a note to let her know about keeping their shared space rotten pumpkin-free

There is also a good chance that her neighbor won't even notice the birthday party decor on the pumpkin

OP doesn't really want to report her neighbor to their HOA

She also doesn't think the neighbor's kids are neglected or abused, so a call to CPS is way too much for some Redditors to suggest

OP clarified that the rotten pumpkin hasn't consumed her every waking moment

At this point, OP just wants to see how long the pumpkin has left before it completely decays

Looks like OP is dead-set on celebrating the pumpkin's birthday before cleaning it up eventually

Happy birthday, pumpkin!

You are gross, but you deserve to be celebrated for withstanding the elements!

Maybe OP's neighbor is going for that authentically gross Halloween aesthetic. She is at least committed to the bit.

OP's passive-aggressive birthday party for the pumpkin was incredibly petty. I hope her neighbors found it as amusing as Redditors did.

Chelsi