This story of a noisy neighbor — and cake — shows the power of kindness over anger
Call it the Christmas Spirit: 2018 Edition.
Writer Candice Marie Benbow chose to handle what could have been a sticky situation with a neighbor with kindness, and, also, cake.
On Dec. 15, Benbow shared an unusual (and hilarious) letter she wrote to her downstairs neighbor on Twitter. The neighbor had an unfortunate habit of blasting music at 3:00 a.m. This was something Benbow had somewhat resigned herself to: "to be fair, you've helped me catch a vibe."
But soon, the neighbor took it too far. Or, in Benbow's words, "But last night... fam, you tried it. You really, really did."
At 3:00 a.m. on the night before the letter, the neighbor escalated from throwback jams to unrecognizable house and techno.
"At 3:47, I realized it was much more advantageous to reflect on your musical tastes and eat potato chips than try to sleep," Benbow wrote. "You really love a piano solo and some soulful drums."
Benbow concluded the letter with a plea to "remember the rest of us" while hosting a party.
In addition to Benbow's hilarious observations and ability to turn a phrase, what made the letter remarkable was the spirit in which she presented it: kindness. Not only did she begin and end the letter with kind greetings and friendliness — she also dropped off the letter with a full freaking cake that she baked for her neighbor.
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Of course such beautiful neighborliness caught Twitter's attention — the original tweet now has over 150,000 likes and 35,000 retweets.
With that attention apparently came the usual amount of Twitter-splainers — which Benbow also handled with grace and humor. Why didn't she go over there? For her own safety, and also because she couldn't find her bra ("it was 3am!") Why didn't she call the cops? Because she didn't want to escalate and initiate a potentially life-threatening situation.
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Folks, this story has a happy ending — and a Hollywood twist. Three days after the original tweet, Benbow shared that she met her neighbor along with a smile-filled selfie! He loved the cake and agreed to keep it down in the future.
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Most importantly, Benbow learned the circumstances surrounding the late, late night tunes. The neighbor, Tommy, is a music video producer: "EVERYTHING makes sense now," Benbow tweeted.
Sadly, Benbow also learned that this was the first holiday season Tommy was going through after the death of his daughter. Benbow reflected on how important compassion was to someone grieving, and how potentially harmful it could have been had she approached the situation with anger.
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Finally, Benbow appealed to Hollywood Twitter, and asked for her story to get the holiday movie treatment. Naturally, Twitter queen and all around badass, filmmaker Ava DuVernay, answered with some ideas of her own.
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As if all that wasn't enough, the two new neighbors and friends will be appearing together on Inside Edition.
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I mean... holiday magic... it does exist ✨.
UPDATED Dec. 23, 2018, 3:34 p.m. ET with Ms. Benbow's Inside Edition tweet.
