{"id":6942,"date":"2026-08-31T19:17:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:17:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/awestories24.press\/?p=6942"},"modified":"2026-08-31T19:17:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T19:17:02","slug":"my-neighbor-constantly-borrowed-my-appliances-when-she-returned-my-mixer-dirty-and-broken-i-taught-her-a-lesson","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/awestories24.press\/?p=6942","title":{"rendered":"My Neighbor Constantly Borrowed My Appliances \u2013 When She Returned My Mixer Dirty and Broken, I Taught Her a Lesson"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/h1>\n

My neighbor Denise had borrowed at least ten things from me that year.<\/strong><\/h1>\n

It started innocently enough.<\/p>\n

First, my ladder.<\/p>\n

\n
<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Then the pressure washer.<\/p>\n

After that, she gradually moved on to things from my kitchen.<\/p>\n

My slow cooker.<\/p>\n

My steamer.<\/p>\n

A large cooler.<\/p>\n

My favorite roasting pan.<\/p>\n

Almost everything came back late, dirty, damaged, or missing some small piece.<\/p>\n

And Denise never seemed particularly bothered by any of it.<\/p>\n

The first few times, I convinced myself it wasn\u2019t worth creating tension.<\/p>\n

We had lived next door to each other for six years.<\/p>\n

Our children had played together when they were younger.<\/p>\n

We watered each other\u2019s plants when one family went out of town.<\/p>\n

And to be fair, Denise wasn\u2019t a horrible neighbor.<\/p>\n

She was simply careless in a very particular way.<\/p>\n

The moment something crossed into her house, she seemed to forget that it still belonged to someone else.<\/p>\n

My ladder came back with dried mud caked around the bottom.<\/p>\n

The roasting pan returned with a dent in one corner.<\/p>\n

The cooler smelled like fruit punch for days.<\/p>\n

Whenever I mentioned anything, Denise always had an explanation.<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, I was going to clean that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Or:<\/p>\n

\u201cWasn\u2019t that already scratched?\u201d<\/p>\n

And my personal favorite:<\/p>\n

\u201cYou know how kids are.\u201d<\/p>\n

Apparently, her children were responsible for every broken lid, stain, dent, and late return within several miles of our neighborhood.<\/p>\n

Looking back, I should have stopped lending her things long before she asked for the mixer.<\/p>\n

I know that now.<\/p>\n

The problem was simple.<\/p>\n

I was terrible at saying no.<\/p>\n

Last Tuesday around four in the afternoon, Denise appeared at my door.<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease tell me you own a stand mixer.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI do.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew it!\u201d<\/p>\n

She clasped her hands dramatically.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou are literally saving my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

I already knew what was coming.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happened?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m making a cake for Saturday, and my hand mixer is completely useless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Then she pointed past me toward the kitchen.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe cream-colored one?\u201d<\/p>\n

My stomach immediately tightened.<\/p>\n

It was an old KitchenAid.<\/p>\n

Heavy.<\/p>\n

Cream-colored.<\/p>\n

There were scratches near the bottom and one tiny chip in the enamel from when my father accidentally hit it with a metal measuring cup years ago.<\/p>\n

My mother had bought it in 1989.<\/p>\n

She used it almost every Sunday until she became too weak to stand in the kitchen for long periods.<\/p>\n

After she died, my sister and I divided most of her kitchen belongings.<\/p>\n

I chose the mixer.<\/p>\n

Not because it was worth the most money.<\/p>\n

Because whenever I switched it on, the sound took me back to Sunday mornings in my parents\u2019 house.<\/p>\n

That might sound foolish to anyone who has never attached memories to an ordinary household object.<\/p>\n

I looked at Denise.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d<\/p>\n

I actually managed to say it.<\/p>\n

\u201cDenise, I\u2019d rather not lend that one out. It belonged to my mother.\u201d<\/p>\n

She laughed as if I were joking.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll be careful. I only need it for one cake.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI really don\u2019t think\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cOh, come on.\u201d<\/p>\n

She remained standing there.<\/p>\n

My daughter Sophie was sitting on the porch steps watching the entire exchange.<\/p>\n

And somehow, I heard myself say:<\/p>\n

\u201cFine.\u201d<\/p>\n

I regretted it instantly.<\/p>\n

Denise smiled.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll bring it back Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cPlease clean it first.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cObviously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday morning, I found the mixer sitting on my porch.<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t knocked.<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t handed it back to me.<\/p>\n

She had simply abandoned it beside the welcome mat where anyone passing by could have taken it.<\/p>\n

The second I picked it up, I knew something was wrong.<\/p>\n

Dried cream had hardened inside the seam where the mixer head connected to the body.<\/p>\n

Yellow.<\/p>\n

Sticky.<\/p>\n

Several days old.<\/p>\n

Something sugary had dried along the power cord.<\/p>\n

The whisk attachment was sitting inside the bowl covered with hardened frosting.<\/p>\n

She hadn\u2019t even rinsed it.<\/p>\n

I carried everything into the kitchen.<\/p>\n

Sophie followed me.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe just left it outside?\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cApparently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s disgusting.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYes.\u201d<\/p>\n

I washed the bowl first.<\/p>\n

Then the attachment.<\/p>\n

Continue reading <\/a><\/h1>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My neighbor Denise had borrowed at least ten things from me that year. It started innocently enough. First, my ladder. Then the pressure washer. After that, she gradually moved on to things from my...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nMy Neighbor Constantly Borrowed My Appliances \u2013 When She Returned My Mixer Dirty and Broken, I Taught Her a Lesson - Welcome<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/awestories24.press\/?p=6942\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"My Neighbor Constantly Borrowed My Appliances \u2013 When She Returned My Mixer Dirty and Broken, I Taught Her a Lesson - Welcome\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"My neighbor Denise had borrowed at least ten things from me that year. 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