GayandRight

My name is Fred and I am a gay conservative living in Ottawa. This blog supports limited government, the right of the State of Israel to live in peace and security, and tries to expose the threat to us all from cultural relativism, post-modernism, and radical Islam. I am also the founder of the Free Thinking Film Society in Ottawa (www.freethinkingfilms.com)

Saturday, May 23, 2009

Getting into trouble for saying 'hello'....

A complaint to the landlord...but gee, shouldn't he have complained to the Human Rights Commission???
When the landlady of my Toronto apartment building said an outraged neighbour had filed a complaint about me over an apparently inappropriate hallway interaction with his wife, my mind raced through the countless conversations I've had with fellow tenants, none of which seemed a possible source of offence.

It turns out, it wasn't a salacious transaction that had caused the complaint, but rather a neighbourly and -- to me -- entirely forgettable greeting, little more than a brief "good morning" as I passed my neighbours on the way to work.

Still, it was enough of an affront for the man -- once a doctor somewhere in the Middle East, my landlady clarified -- to feel I had broken a cultural taboo. The incident started an awkward feud which has involved warnings not to repeat my indiscretion and one face-to-face shouting match, which included allusions to my impending death.

I expect the battle will wage on, as we appear to be stuck at an impasse.

His Muslim upbringing has ingrained in him a sense of entitlement to demand I not speak directly to his wife; and my prairie upbringing has ingrained in me a duty to strive for polite cohesion with my neighbours.

My landlady, who has handled the complaint with tittering trepidation, hasn't helped dispel the friction. She has told me to adhere to the demands because the man "could be dangerous," directing me to literally turn my back to the couple as they pass, never make eye contact and never hold the elevator for them, no matter what.
Thanks to Vlad Tepes for blogging this...

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Oh my GAWD! Maybe he is gay!! (real conservative)

1:47 PM  
Anonymous Allahbama Joe said...

Bring your dog on the elevator.

6:56 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Too much! Outrageous .. Time to move ....

1:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Don't move and stick with it - you never know what kind of an impact you may have on the wife.

But if you do get tired, you should move into my building; my landlady would have cussed that man out three ways till Sunday if he had come to her with such a complaint...

2:55 AM  

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