A matter of privacy

I have a note on my front door held on by a magnet that reads PLEASE DO NOT DISTURB written in red. It's pretty plain to see and you've got to be a complete moron not to see it and have no respect for anyone else if you ignore it.

This is what the note says:

I work nights, which means I sleep during the day.
I don't knock on your door at 2 AM, so please do not
wake me in the daytime.

A little common courtesy is all I'm asking.

Ty,

The tenant

Pretty straight forward and polite, if you ask me.

But what does my landlord feel the need to do incessantly?

He not only feels he can key himself into my apartment anytime he feels like it, he has his illiterate exterminator pound on my door at noon yesterday, scream "Bug Man!" then let himself into my apartment to spray for critters, waking me up out of a very sound sleep.

I've asked my landlord not to do this several times in the past due to my work schedule but he still insists on sending this shithead to my place when I'm asleep.

This guy is very lucky he didn't get shot for his trouble, but I really think he pissed his pants when he saw me standing au-naturale with a .357 magnum aimed at him.

So not only did my landlord raise my rent another $30 a month not long ago, he's bound and determined for me never to get any sleep, along with my extremely active next door neighbor. (I didn't have that much energy when I was 19 for Christ's sake! I'm wondering what drugs he's taking!)

So now I'm actively looking for a new place. Something with a little more privacy, and no neighbors. I'd never thought I'd say it but I sort of miss my house in Arizona, where my nearest neighbor was mile down the road.

On second thought, that used to happen quite frequently there too.

Right now I'm still seething over this. In over twenty years of living on my own I've never been treated with so little respect.

For the time being I'm going to start pushing my love seat in front of the door when I go to bed.

But the fact stands that I shouldn't have too.

Copyright 2005 Thomas J Wolfenden