My 68yo mother visited for a week. Within 2 days, she figured out what the neighbors were hiding.

I told my mom the smell in the hallway was just “old building odors.” I told her the loud music was just “young kids.”

She didn’t buy it.

“That’s not just music, honey,” she said, looking at the neighbors’ balcony. “And that’s not just weed. Look at the plastic sheeting they put up.”

She showed me a post on LocalAll about “The Ventilation Trick.”

Burglars and squatters often use heavy incense or weed smoke to mask the smell of chemicals or to see if neighbors are attentive enough to complain. If you don’t say anything about the smell, they know you’re an easy target.

My mom wasn’t being “furious” for no reason. She was seeing the red flags I was too “polite” to notice.

See the “5 Smells You Should Never Ignore” on LocalAll.