you are living in Switzerland so you actually left NYC...
I didnt mean that you should leave CH, but maybe find a new apartment...

As far as I can see, the guy has just been short tempered and a bit shouty which is perhaps aggressive and definitely childish.

Unless he turns violent and/or displays harassment I doubt the police would be interested.

For the sake of the daughter I would try to smooth things over as quickly and as painlessly as possible. It all sounds a bit "school-yard-he-shouted-so-we-shouted...".

There are dickheads everywhere but unfortunately it's not a criminal offence.

Maybe try to show this guy the opposite of what he's showing to you, send him and his wife a nice cake with a nice card of maybe a nice plant with a card, this should make him rethink his position and understand his mistake (If he's a normal human being and not a lunatic of course), this should build an intimate relation between you as neighbors

The police / legal / complain route will make things worst on the long run and you don't wanna go there unless you're planning to pack your stuff and find another apartment

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Silence is an argument carried out by other means.

You are of course totally right that he is totally wrong. But what you want surely is peace for the future, rather than punishment as such. Showing goodwill, beyond what he deserves- is a small price to pay. As said, otherwise it might escalate and make life very difficult for you, and especially for your little girl. Not worth it, surely (and yes, I do agree that he is a `*************)

Because, he has no power anywhere else in his life. He is so worthless that the only sense of control he gets is to yell at little kids. You would be stunned at how many people there are like this, and not just in Switzerland.

Buy your daughter a drum kit, encourage her to listen to Slipknot and trade in your canines for Dobermans, this dude clearly has issues.

I advise against introducing the issue into the legal system, unless you feel that after attempting to resolve the issue through goodwill, there remains a threat to your family, physically or emotionally.

but what is "rest"? sitting with folded hands at your sofa meditaing? fair point he needs it quiet. but i guess this mate is hanging around in his flat while he should be outsuide, enjoying the weather. for sure he is reading or what have you and not that resting that a little girl (how can you yell at such a 6 year old girly cutie? give her some swiss chocolate, idiot?!) should be stressed that way... come on?

i think i told my daughter again what bell to ring, id print our name on red piece of paper or something, mark it in a colour she wont miss and give this idiot my inner "screw you!" fin.

I remember not long after we moved here, my friend's German neighbour got really disproportionately angry with us when we were having an afternoon BBQ on the roof terrace to celebrate - wait for it.. 1st Aug Swiss day of all things!

He accosted me in the hallway as I was fetching something from the flat, and launched a 3 or 4 min red faced rant at me. I stood by and let him finish and then calmly said "Sorry, I haven't got a clue what you're banging on about. I don't speak German" & then turned around and walked off. Oh his face was such a picture

i think you should say: ey, spasti! hast du n rad ab? chill ma aus, kumpel. die kleine ist sechs jahre alt. komma klar, sonst gibts ne schelle!" thats why they like us germans. true story.

Excellent distinction, but your love for specificity aside, I think you got my gist. I love our apartment and would hate to give him power by leaving. Of course, if that's what it takes to keep my daughter safe, then we will do that. But I truly hope it doesn't come down to that.
PS- I left Manhattan to move to California with my husband in 2002. He dragged me kicking and screaming.

Not sure if this has been suggested already but, disconnect his doorbell and he'll never be disturbed again! Easy!

here's the problem with that: if I start speaking to him in German, he will think I understand everything he says and then I will be lost! I love learning new ways to sound like a German surfer tho', so thanks!!!!! LOL!

Yes- someone did suggest that. It's a lovely idea, but I think it would be pretty easy to figure out that we did it, and I certainly would not give him more reason to be angry.

Another update: we spoke to one of our lovely neighbors who says that this guy has a history of being mean, angry and awful in general. And get this: his wife is a lawyer. Great. Apparently she (his wife) has had to clean up after him and his rants and raves. Again, my sympathies to Mrs. Angry.
My neighbor's advice was to ignore him as much as possible, but if he ever does anything physical or threatening near our daughter again, to go to the authorities. She said that he's always been angry and caused trouble, but his behaving in such a way in front of a child is new and may mean that his anger is worsening. Very upsetting to us. We love Switzerland and to have this bad experience here is sad.

I did that for a grumpy neighbour (not Switzerland) after ringing her doorbell at midnight. I got friendly smiles and greetings from her, for the rest of my time in that country.

IKEA has a solution for everything...



Here is the manual:

Are you from Vancouver by any chance?

Cheers,
Nick

It sounds like your other neighbours are okay - and it's a shame you feel like walking on eggshells because of this one individual.

If this chap continues to be a problem, it might be worth writing a letter - signed by other neighbours - to the building management about this man with a view to getting him moved out. Presumably you will need a diary of incidents to back it up - and you never know, maybe the other neighbours already have one!

Maybe it is also worth engaging with this man's wife on days when he's out mammoth hunting.

Cheers,
Nick

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