Neighbor: I know you donโt like me and, tbh, the feeling is mutual. You scowl at everyone, avoid eye contact, shout obscenities, and play the WORST REGGAE AT THE HIGHEST VOLUME, ALL DAY LONG.
And it’s not just bad reggaeโit’s the same bad reggae again and again. If you canโt afford headphones, please broaden your playlist; Iโve memorized the nine or ten songs you have on repeat.
I wasnโt always a reggae hater; as a teenager I even listened ON PURPOSE. Ska, dub, rocksteady, two-tone, I once paid money to see Yellowman! Eventually, I noticed that reggae fans are the most uptight dudes in the world (that includes you, Neighbor), and that kind of ruined it for me. Then I didnโt think about it. Then you moved in; an ex-Marine with anger issues. So I kept quiet.
But then YOU got quiet, and now Iโm concerned. At least when you were blasting your tunes, it seemed like you were blowing off steam. Now youโre a quiet, scowling ex-Marine who doesnโt like me. To fill the eerie silence, I guess, Iโve started listening to a lot of Studio One comps. And you know what? Theyโre pretty great.ย
Maybe we should hang out sometime?
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