‘When I leave my apartment, I do it in fear,’ says neighbour

For years, Steve* saw his middle-aged neighbour walk up and down the street with weighted ski gear; he thought it could be a way for the older man to keep fit.

Then, while shovelling snow from his front lawn, the older man reportedly stopped on his daily ski-weighted walk to talk to Steve.

“He finally decided to talk to me that day and I soon found out he’s insane!” Steve claimed.

“He claims to be a former scriptwriter from LA who got hit by ‘some Mexican’, crippling him before he could hit his prime and forcing him to move back in with his mum,” revealed Steve.

“He claims Michael Bay [an American film director known for the movie Armageddon] kills people and said insurance companies are running the planet.”

The older man even said he “wrote a ton of hit movies but never got credited”, and Steve found that he couldn’t get a word in edgeways.

“After that day, he decided we were best pals and strikes up a conversation with me whenever he sees me,” said Steve.

“I’m headed to my car to go to work at 6:30am, he’ll make me late to work. If I’m coming home and rushing to take an emergency poo, he’ll practically make me poop ’em.

“The dude doesn’t shut up, and doesn’t give you the chance to get away. I avoid him constantly.”

Steve said he feels like he’s in a “horror movie”. He elaborated: “I check my surroundings when I am going to or from my car, and sometimes in the distance I’ll hear CLICK. CLACK. CLICK. CLACK.”

Naming the neighbour “Sticks”, whenever he hears the ski sticks slapping down on the pavement, he knows “Sticks is coming”.

“Sometimes I hear it behind me, and never turn back out of fear,” said Steve. “Other times I’ll hear it to my right only to get ambushed from my left.”

Steve added: “This man… as soon as I’m caught, I get to hear all about his opinions on the Koch brothers [billionaire businessmen], or inside jobs, or whatever else he read on the internet that morning.”

Feeling trapped, Steve feels like he “can’t break free” until Sticks decides it’s time to move on.

Not being able to get a word in at any point, Steve dutifully waits for the older man’s ramblings to stop.

Steve shared: “Every day I leave my apartment, I do it in fear. Fear of Sticks.”

*Steve’s name has been changed for privacy purposes, who shared his story to Reddit.