Saturday, November 11, 2006

dammit Jim, I'm a bass player, not a mind reader

so last night i guess the neighbors called the cops and they came by to tell us to shut down at like 8:30.

These neighbors have never said word one to me in the six months we've been here. How am i supposed to know anything about them, specifically that one of them goes to work at 7 am, if they don't talk to me? I hate that kind of passive agressive bullshit. The cops have better things to do than come over and tell me to stop playing.

So I'm angry at these neighbors for a lot of reasons. Mostly, i'm angry because they won't talk to us, even to say hi. I suspect that this is because they're special, being homeowners and all, and we're just mere renters. We have cooties, and to say anything to us would somehow sully them.

Listen, y'know, i may be a jerk sometimes. Ok fairly often. But i try to be considerate. If a neighbor is bothering me, i go talk to them unless they've proven themselves to be someone you can't talk to. I'm not confrontational with people about these kinds of things. If someone had come over, about a month ago when we started this, and said "Hey i get up really early for work can you guys cut it off earlier or play in the daytime it would be great", well, i would have done it. But no one did. One person came over last Saturday and i guess pounded on the front door and said... nothing....really i guess. Dale dealt with them. So i don't know.

But, yeah. Just talk to me. I'll work with ya. Jeezus. Ain't a whole lot to ask, not so much waste of resources on the city's part.

5 comments:

  1. The cops probably just wanted to see if there were any nonviolent drug users the criminal justice system could make some quick revenue from. I assume if they had anything more interesting to do, they'd have been doing it, so don't woory about the city's "resources". The important thing is to be calmer and more rational than whoever is calling the cops in the first place. Might save you having to buy a dB meter and paying some twit lawyer to study noise ordinances or paying some damn ticket or whatever.

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  2. To me, it is a waste. Firstly, because i don't bite, and someone could have come over and said something rather than just have the damn cops show up at my garage and give me the runaround and talk to me like a piece of shit. Second, because Southern Oregon (as most of Oregon) is crawling with speed freaks.

    But i was reasonable. I no longer allow my foot-in-mouth disease to interfere with my dealings with the police.

    Now, here in KF, someone can call the cops any time of day or night over annoying noises. Totally subjective. If i'm mowing the lawn and they can't hear the TV, they can call the cops on me. First time is a warning. Second time, $400 ticket.

    Why should i feel afraid to do the only thing i'm any good at?

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  3. I would have told you to shut the fuck up before I called the cops. Those people are pussies!

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  4. See, now Wyrd is a neighbor i can respect.

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  5. Maybe you should play passive aggressive back. I have uppity homeowner neighbors. They bought a bunch of fake light pillars at home depot and paved their side of the driveway. I came home to find they'd been on my property, well, the landlord's property, without permission and painted a white property line. They'd been on my side. But hell should break loose should I step foot or even a toe on their side. So, then a kitten adoptor hit one of their precious light pillars when leaving. So, I put up a garishly painted plant pot, with a piece of PVC pipe sticking out of it, also painted in neon orange stripes. I didn't want my adoptors accidentally hitting their beloved light pillars. The light blinds you if you're trying to leave my place after dark and my driveway is narrow and dark. So now their pillars are protected by "art" and they hate it. I knew they'd hate it. They came out when I was putting the pot out there and tried to claim it wasn't needed and I said, "well, you don't need to worry. It's not on your property." I call this tactic "reverse passive aggression". Find out what they hate and try to work that into your landscaping, with a smile, too, making sure they know you're doing them some sort of a fovor. It's fun.

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