Last week, I came home several times to find a bright orange extension cord running from my neighbor’s garage into the outdoor socket at the back of my house. The first time, I unplugged it, assuming it was an honest mistake. But when I caught him doing it again and pointed out that he was using electricity from my meter, he just laughed and shrugged, saying, “Relax, it’s only a few pennies.”

After it happened again while I was away, I decided enough was enough. I installed a lockable cover over the outdoor socket—not to start an argument, but simply to stop someone from helping themselves to my electricity whenever they felt like it. I even thought that would quietly settle the issue.

Instead, this morning I found a handwritten note pushed through my letterbox. He claimed I had blocked the “community socket” and wrote that, since he could no longer charge his e-bike outside, he expected to plug it in inside my house whenever it rained. He even asked me to leave my back gate unlocked on Saturday so he could let himself in. I honestly stood there staring at the note, wondering if he was serious.

I’m not looking to fall out with the neighbors. I even offered to split the cost of having a proper outdoor outlet installed on his own property, but he refused. Now he’s telling people on the street that I’m being stingy over “a bit of electricity.” To me, though, this has never been about the cost—it’s about respect, personal boundaries, and someone believing they’re entitled to use my home as if it were their own..