Sunday, 8 May 2005
WTF
A day can start suddenly, and sometimes violently. Today was both.
Heather and I were woken up by her upstairs neighbors, stomping on the floor around 6:30. Two especially loud thumps made it sound like they dropped a large brick on the floor. A third one came a couple of minutes later, and I was upstairs to tell them to know it off.
Heather's had problems with this couple before, and the history is too long to bother getting into. They complain that she makes too much noise - "too much" defined as closing the front door when she gets home from work after midnight. The root of the problem is that they never come down to say anything, preferring to stomp on the floor.
So this time, woken up out of a pretty sound sleep, I decided to be the adult and go upstairs. No answer to the doorbell, so I knocked. No answer to that, so I knocked very loudly.
The situation didn't have time to degenerate - it was immediately bad. Before I said more than that they were making too much noise, the guy was yelling at me through the door. Claimed that I had no right to ask or tell him anything, used the informal "tu," and called me an asshole. So much for being adults.
Just a few minutes into the exchange, and there had already been time for Heather to come up, for me to send her down for the phone (the guy was acting weird), and for her to return.
And then it happened.
This neighbor of hers, out of the blue while shouting at me, slapped Heather. Hard. He got a huge whack from me, upside his head.
No need for more details, it wrapped up fast then. Heather called the cops on the spot (the reason for the phone to begin with), and they came by to her place in about a half an hour.
On our way to get together with our friends Matt and Lauren, we stopped by the police station and filed a complaint. It could result in a fine, and will result in an arrest and jail time if this guy is reported as having hit anyone again. In fact, something (I don't know what) could happen sooner: he's already had a complaint filed against him by another neighbor, his own cousin.
But the thing that bothers me - not what makes me angry, that was easily when I saw Heather get hit - was my response. I slapped the guy. I mean, what's up with that?
I know from experience (not recently, I'll admit) that I can give a pretty good, effective jab to the face, why didn't I do that? A slap, no matter how hard (and I hit him hard), is such a wimpy response - and it's not the first time I've struck back like that. So, why not a real punch?
On the other hand, the slap was an "equitable" response. And it won't leave a bruise (or worse) for him to use as support for any counter claim.
What a twisted world this can be sometimes.
Comments
Hey John-
Are you going to be in Paris July 8-9 and/or again July 15-18? I'm flying over the big lake between us to see a buddy in Slovakia and then head south to see a leg or two of Le Tour, or as they say here in Wisconsin, Lee Toooer DAY fr-ants.E-mail me. For the love of Dave Murphy, e-mail me.