Dear Prudence,
My husband and I bought what was supposed to be our dream home in a beautiful neighborhood. Unfortunately, the house next to us is occupied by the neighborhood crank, an ancient lady who endlessly curses at us and threatens to call the police if we so much as barbecue in our backyard with friends after 7:00 p.m. If she sees our kids (ages 5 and 7) playing outside, she screams at them to stay away from her place.
Last week, I saw my husband and kids laughing while looking out our dining room window that faces the street.
I looked out myself and saw the old lady laying on the sidewalk halfway to the mailbox. I ran out and checked on her. She ended up needing an ambulance and was taken to the hospital where she was diagnosed with a broken arm. After I came back inside, my husband said I should have left her there longer. It turns out that he had seen her fall more than 15 minutes prior. He called the kids over and they all stood there giggling while she tried in vain to get back up! I’m certainly not fond of the old bag, but isn’t what he did setting a terrible example for the kids?