He apologized for blasting music at 11 p.m. Days later, his neighbor wrote about him in NYT Magazine
For four months, she kept bearing his loud music 24/7, until one night she decided to put an end to it
One’s environment is shaped by where one lives, the kind of society one dwells in, the culture followed around them, and the people that surround them. Not to contradict Disney’s Zootopia, which advertised the message that “anyone can be anything,” but to understand that if one needs to survive, one needs to live in harmony with their environment. One young boy named Cameron Roh (@cameronrohpovs) had the courtesy of apologizing when he accidentally disrupted his neighbor’s environment by blasting loud music for hours and hours through several nights. He didn’t get to know how much they had connected with each other until he read an article in the New York Times, per a March 31 Instagram reel he posted.
The television ran 24/7
Roh had moved into this Brooklyn apartment only a few months ago. After moving in, he installed a television right against a wall, with no idea that on the other side of the wall was an elderly neighbor's bedroom. He blasted music all day, all night on the television, and continued to do this for four months straight, until one night when there was a knock. It was 11 pm, and his TV was blasting SZA’s hits when he opened the door to find his neighbor standing outside with one request.
A bouquet and a note
Roh's neighbor said, “Listen, I have trouble sleeping, and like you're playing your music, and I think your TV is up against the wall that we share, and I just can't sleep." Roh was left drenched in utter embarrassment, having no idea that his neighbor could hear the songs. He apologized and, the following day, bought her a bouquet and left it on her doorstep with a note.
“Here's my phone number if you need anything or if you ever need to tell me to shut up,” he had written in the note. A few weeks later, she sent him a link to a New York Times article, reading which made him jump out of his bed. “My neighbor wrote an entire diary entry that was published in the New York Times about this story,” he exclaimed. The article, published on March 22, was nothing like Ron had expected.
A surprise feature in the New York Times
The neighbor had written about renting a sunny one-bedroom corner apartment in Prospect Heights, where she had been living there for six years, and one of the reasons was the “indelible silence” the place offered. She continued to describe the story of this Gen Z night owl blasting R&B, SZA, and neo-soul at midnight. Their musical tastes aligned so much, but not the schedules, which created trouble for her. “I argued with myself nightly, wondering whether I should say something, but stopped for the fear of being painted as the grumpy Millennial nextdoor,” she wrote.
She documented in words how one night she was suffering from anxiety and sleep deprivation and she jumped out of bed, marched next door, and began an irrational rant at her neighbor. The following afternoon, as she awaited the delivery of an overpriced salad, she opened the door to find a bouquet of tulips and a handwritten apology “complete with perfect penmanship and hand-doodled hearts.” Roh wrapped up the wholesome story by saying, “It's so warming to see because you never know what an act of kindness can do. Cheers to Millennials and Gen Z coexisting.”
How does 'neighbor noise' impact people?
According to a study published in BMC Public Health, 36% of neighbors reported annoyance from neighborhood noise, with roughly 7% suffering high annoyance and mental health issues like depression and stress. The research highlighted how noise is a significant chronic stressor in every multistory building. Interestingly, the study notes: "Among women, a strong association was observed between neighbor noise annoyance and being very bothered by pain or discomfort in the shoulder or neck, and in the arms, hands, legs, knees, hips or joints." Men reported no such associations.
What are people saying?
Millions of viewers are still swooning over the heartwarming episode. @johnjunseoklee said, “This is so cute and heartfelt.” @withreservation remarked, “Won’t work for every situation, but a good rule of thumb is to run your music/TV at the volume you usually use and then walk out into your hallway, close your door, and see if you can hear your music/show. If you can, your neighbors can.”
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