The Buurt-App Drama

If you don't know what that is, it is a neighbourhood chat group, usually on WhatsApp or a local app, where Dutch neighbours coordinate things like lost cats, suspicious vans and, most importantly, their feelings about parking.

And those feelings are strong. Now here is the thing about Dutch passive-aggressive politeness.

On the surface, it looks incredibly reasonable, polite even. But underneath, it is not a request, it is a verdict. And if you are not a native speaker, you can miss that entirely.

Tonight's scene. Sarah is on the sofa scrolling the Buurt app, and she finds a post.