Today’s blog tells a very disturbing reality that comes with condo life.
It’s bad enough that renters consistently refuse (there are actually some responsible renters, but the percentages are so outrageously skewed that this minuscule population goes pretty much unheralded) to abide by the “rules” that they sign up to honour when renting.
But when the offenders are owners, well that’s a whole new ballgame.
This morning I had yet another confrontation with a guy, who have proven so offensive in the past that I have been working at avoiding him lest we confront the issues and end up in a free for all.
A couple years back, when I moved back into my income property at College Park, I had my first run in with this guy when he was on an elliptical machine sneezing, hacking, wiping his nose with the back of his hand, and not covering his mouth at all to even shoot for the appearance that he was trying to protect others from his germs.
And every time I’ve seen him since that day, I’ve had to put up with his childish stares and attempts to intimidate me (from that one brief exchange!).
So this morning as I finished my steam bath, I notice him arrive at the spa area which was unique as he usually just comes are lurks around the exercise area.
And he commits what I see as an “inexcusable” act of entering the swimming pool area without taking a shower.
Now, it’s not as though anyone should have to tell anyone else that they are required to shower before using the pool and/or hot tub, as there are two different, easily legible signs instructing “All users must shower before entering the pool area“.
I admit that I’m a bit of a “germophobe“, not at all like Howie Mendall, but definitely conscious of the many germs within my environment and willing to go to lengths to avoid them whenever possible.
So this morning as he brushed by me heading into the pool area without taking a shower, as usual (this happens all the time and it is totally disgusting even for me, someone who does not even use the pool area – for specifically this reason) I respectfully mentioned to him that he is required, as the signs instruct, to take a shower “before entering and/or re-entering the pool area“.
At first he ignored my comment and my intentions were to do what I usually do and report him to the security guard and as the guard to instruct him to either comply with the posted signage on the matter or face losing his “privileges” to use the facility.
I don’t think that owners and/or renters should confront each other on issues like this, but I don’t think we should live in an authoritarian environment either, thus a polite confirmation of intentions seemed like the better way to go.
A couple moments later he re-appeared in the change room, telling me that “he was just entering the pool to put down his stuff“, a notable lie as “his stuff” was still in his hand.
I tried brushing him off, but he apparently was offended (at being caught doing something inexcusable).
Lacking a valid argument, he immediately pronounced that he also “is an owner“, to which I responded, “then you really should be ashamed of yourself for not setting the proper example for others, specifically renters to follow”.
I has honestly having difficulty trying to comprehend why any owner would want people avoiding showers in a residential building in which he owns.
He is a younger fellow, I would guess possibly thirty or so years old.
His challenge to me to compare our wealth status, struck me as odd.
He is too young, especially as a self-proclaimed “doctor” to have built his alleged estate on his own and therefore I told him that it seems reasonable to assume that “daddy bought him the education and daddy bought him the condo that he boasts about owning“!
“Do you think wealth regulates whether or not you have to respect and honour the rules that you committed to honouring when you bought here, because of your financial position in life?”, I asked him.
He wanted me to know that he was wealthy as he kept challenging me to “compare assets“!
He then went on to vigorously try to explain that “he is a doctor at Mt. Sinai Hospital“.
I asked his name but it was middle eastern and I couldn’t understand what he was saying to me.
I also asked him whether, as a doctor, he would stipulate that swimming without taking a shower (not to mention breakage the rules) would prove “health conscious, wise or socially acceptable”, but he just kept falling back on his challenge to “compare net worth“.
I actually told him that I would be happy to compare our finances and he should get his most recent Income Tax Assessments and I would do the same and we could meet and hopefully get meaningful answers to my questions on the original topic which was “does he think refusing to take a shower as indicated by 2 signs clearly posted in the change room is reasonable or responsible behaviour?”.
I also was quick to point out to him that if his intentions were as they have been for the past couple years to try to physically intimidate me (he’s about 250 pounds or more and less than half my age) then we should get that out of the way and have him just stop by the security guard station on our way out back and tell the guard that he is challenging me to fight him and that he is waiving any legal recourse to the outcome of him getting his wish).
I would have a valid self defence argument and then we could go about fulfilling his agenda.
I told him that his doing so would “make my day” and that I “could then punish him in the way that I have a great deal of experience in doing, without fear of legal ramifications“!
Like most big blob bullies, he back down immediately.
So, now running out of frivolous arguments he turned his focus on two other people that come to the gym every morning (fortunately they arrive usually as I am leaving so I don’t have to tolerate either of them much) that noticeably don’t like me.
This came as no surprise or shock to me as I have been required to deal with both of them, and to think that they still hold a grudge is not a stretch for me to comprehend.
Let’s state for the record that I don’t to the gym to make friends or socialize.
I go every morning at 5:00 a.m. and open the club up and honestly try to get my workout completed before these people show up.
Amazingly, one of these two is also a doctor (at Sick Kids Hospital), and a guy that chooses to break every rule that the condo seems to have!
After years and years, this clown still attends the gym area with Crocks while the sign on the entry door of the gym clearly states: “proper attire required“.
Sweaty bare feet can hardly be considered proper attire.
This guy actually brings his own television remote to manipulate the two TV’s in the gym to work only for him.
He even brought his own window openers when management removed the ones there to try to stop people opening all the windows while our air conditioning units hummed non-stop (talk about eating up operating costs)!
And he’s the same guy that I had blogged about setting up his own plastic wonder land play park on his front lawn (against condo rules) and when I exposed him for it I caught him standing out back of the townhouses between the high rises and the towns, yelling and screaming my company name (simplycondos.com at the time) at the top of his voice.
Not a very balanced guy in my estimate.
And the other is a woman who pounds so hard on the treadmill that no-one in the room can hear the televisions even if put on full volume.
I find her at least somewhat entertaining as she works hard to destroy her own knee and ankle joints by pounding so hard on the treadmill.
My argument was not even about the excessive noise that she introduced every morning, but related to the fact that the first treadmill that she used for months and months ended up useless from her abuse.
I simply asked her when she moved on to a new treadmill if she would pay for its repair noting that she had not done so when she broke the first one.
So I understand that I’m not Mr. Popularity with these people, and quite frankly I would want to associate with them let alone be popular with them.
But I did find it rather strange that this guy would want to hide behind the false argument that “I’m potentially the problem” when all else failed him when trying to deflect the responsibility of not complying with simple and clearly posted rules requiring that he (a doctor) take a shower before using the common element swimming pool.
So, as all else failed him, he resorted to threatening me that “he was going to report me to security“, to which I told him I supported his conclusion so we might as well go together and make a report to security, a proposal to which he had no interest.
I’m sick and tired of having to tolerate ignorant and arrogant people like this (I catch someone almost weekly doing exactly what he was up to, avoiding showering and they always immediately get defensive and abusive to cover up their egregious conduct) who lack the fundamental intelligence to understand “pride of ownership“!
I’m Charles
