A woman who recently moved into a new flat has been left feeling anxious she’s caused some anger or offence to her new neighbours after she noticed a ‘weird’ problem keeps happening outside her door
A woman is confused after moving into a new building and spotting an unusual sight whenever she gets home. Living in a building where communal spaces are shared among all residents can be a bit of a balancing act – it’s important everyone is respectful of one another so as not to cause tension or awkwardness between neighbours.
Sometimes, unwanted situations arise, be it people leaving secured gates open, not helping with the bins, or leaving a mess in the hallway. After moving into a new flat with a roommate, one woman was baffled to discover her ‘welcome mat’ is consistently moved to an unexpected place each day.
After realising the “weird” scenario has become a bit of a pattern, the woman has been left feeling anxious in case she’s done something wrong or has caused offence to her neighbours in some way.
Taking to Reddit to seek advice, she asked: “Someone keeps throwing my welcome mat. What does this mean?”
She then explained: “I moved into my new apartment a few weeks ago and this has happened a few times. I’ll get home and see that my welcome mat is not at my door.
“Is it possible I did something to make [the neighbours] mad? I haven’t even met them, I don’t know who lives beside me.”
The building has two flats above the woman’s but she doesn’t see any reason “why [those residents] would walk by [her] door downstairs.”
She added: “The first time, the mat was upside down in the bushes and the second time it was upside down under the staircase (outdoor apartments).
“Also it’s pretty heavy, it’s rubber and straw so it can’t possibly be the wind. Just weird. Does this have any specific meaning?”
In the comments section, people were keen to share their thoughts and theories, with many convinced it could be more innocent than she believes.
One person said: “My welcome mat kept getting blown around and I discovered it was the grass cutting crew, they had a powerful leaf blower….”
To which someone else replied: “Dude, same thing happened to me! I had to weigh it down with rocks to keep it in place.”
A third person commented: “99% chance you’ve got careless landscapers blowing your mat away. Always happened at my old place until I was home on a weekday when they mowed, and the mystery was solved.”
Someone else advised: “Get a Ring Doorbell.”
While another asked: “Any kids around?” Echoing this line of thought, one person said: “I bet kids. It’ll stop when they go back to school.”
Another asked: “Are you allowed to have mats? As weird as that sounds.”
The original poster replied: “Yes, my next door neighbours have one and I haven’t seen it out of place.”
Someone else believed it could be a targeted action. They added: “It likely means someone nearby is intentionally removing your mat, possibly out of annoyance or as a passive-aggressive message.
“Since it’s happened more than once and the mat ends up in odd spots, it’s probably not random or weather-related.”
