It was much nicer for her to wake him up and let him fix his mistake than wait for him to get a ticket.

You can’t always control what your neighbor does. If you live in a neighborhood with a Homeowners’ Association, you can absolutely control the color of mulch that your neighbor uses in their front lawn by reporting the issue to the HOA. But sometimes a neighbor will do whatever they want, regardless of whether an HOA dictates their actions. 

It can be frustrating when one of your neighbors never mows their lawn, while you keep your lawn clean and pristine. While it doesn’t technically harm you in any real way, it can reflect poorly on the neighborhood, dragging down property values and whatnot. And sometimes it is just an eyesore. People don’t want to live next door to a house that is never maintained and looks shabby compared to the rest of the neighborhood, which is why Homeowners Associations are desirable to some. 

There’s a significant distinction between a neighbor neglecting to maintain their home and putting you in harm’s way. The neighbors in this story had no problem parking their cars in front of their duplex driveway, blocking their neighbor in. Instead of letting them get a ticket, she woke them up at 2 AM to tell them it was illegal to park in front of the driveway. How did they repay her kindness, you may ask? Exactly how you think they did.