The internet made a quick verdict on this one — a neighbor was both way out of line and grasping for straws with their response to a Redditor’s use of their clothesline.

In a Reddit community devoted to assessing these sorts of disputes, the homeowner laid out their experience. They explained they started using a pre-existing clothesline setup on their property during the COVID-19 lockdown to kill some time.

Since then, they’d become an even bigger fan of line drying. They revealed that doing laundry on the line saves money on energy bills, reduces their environmental impact, increases the longevity of their clothes, and leaves a natural scent on clothes and bedsheets that they appreciate.

Even better, their HOA has no rule against line drying, making their actions perfectly legal. That wasn’t good enough for a disapproving neighbor who left an angry note on their front door. Their neighbor pulled out all the stops with the letter.

They claimed, without evidence, that the clotheslines were turning off potential buyers, lowering property values, and looked “third world.” They also channeled Helen Lovejoy of the Simpsons by alleging that hanging the homeowner’s wife’s undergarments was “indecent” and corrupting the children.

This isn’t an isolated situation. Many homeowners face obstacles when trying to make sustainable choices like adding solar panels or installing native plant lawns.

Some encounter resistance from HOAs, and the overstepping neighbor revealed that their previous one banned clotheslines through a bylaw. Working with HOAs to overturn or prevent those sorts of maneuvers is often better than taking a combative approach.

In this case, the OP revealed they’d taken a proactive approach by showing the letter to others. Their supportive neighbors took their side and even started line drying themselves with their help. That sort of rallying around their cause extended to the comments on Reddit.

One wrote, “I guess I can understand not wanting to feel awkward and have your neighbors underwear in view…even if I think people should just deal, but trying to play the ‘think of the children!’ card is embarrassing here.”

“We shouldn’t have to waste energy to look ‘civilized,'” a commenter asserted while pointing out that much of the world heavily employs clotheslines.

“I mean… to give kids the idea that laundry isn’t done automatically? That there’s another way of drying clothes? … Oh how wrong one can be,” a third Redditor commented.

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