June 30, 2011
--When I got back to the shelter tonight, the female resident who might be a pedophile was sitting in her car with the male resident who only took a brief respite from harassing me during the few days a couple of weeks ago when he was making "love of my life" comments around me. They were both smiling cruel smiles. As I walked by and said hello, the woman said "You look a little winded today." I got a few feet past her car and said, loudly, back "You look a little fat today."
I wish I could do better than saying things like that when people are that awful. However, I don't think that any of the etiquette books I ever read had a chapter on how to cover exactly the situation I'm going through. That's no excuse of course, but I am mentioning it in my own defense.
The female resident who moved in a couple of days ago sat behind me while I was writing on WordPress and yelled on the phone to whoever she was talking to about her flooded house "I've got to get everything out of the wet. I have to get it out of the wet." I lost my temper again and said, loudly, "SUCH a PIG!" Then she went on to talk about getting things "fresh and clean." Finally I told her that she could go into another room to get some privacy, and she got off the phone.
--Corporate harassment of my lawyer
Last year, before I ended up in the hospital, I made it very clear to Anheuser- Busch, the company that produces Budweiser beer, that it wasn't my fault or my lawyer's fault that people had been using Budweiser and Bud Light logos to show support for me. I didn't say that to be ungracious or ungrateful to people who wanted to show support for me; I said it because I didn't want that company to feel pressure to attack my lawyer in order to avoid being attacked by the big harassers.
I noticed the other day that a Bud Light truck had an image of liquid beer along the edges of the truck. Today, I also saw a carton which originally held a case of beer that has promotions on it saying
"PORT PARADISE 4: HERE WE GO"
There's a picture of a cruise ship on it; the ship says "Bud Light" on the side. Next to the cruise ship, it says:
"LOOK INSIDE FOR YOUR CODE AND YOU COULD WIN A CRUISE OR OTHER GREAT PRIZES."
There's no reason for anyone to try to humiliate my lawyer for any reason. The fact that he has defended me doesn't mean that his ability to have a career should be impaired by this undermining behavior by Anheuser-Busch.
@8:18 p.m.
--Another Way
Today, at Another Way, I found out that the guy in his 50's who hasn't stopped harassing me and trying to get me kicked out when I object to his abuse is one of the staff at the place--or at least he says he's staff. If he's one of the staff, what was he doing using the computers that are supposed to be for the clients? This morning, a reasonable staffmember whom I'd never seen before and I agreed that a sign-ups sheet with times on it for people to write their names was a good idea. She taped it to the table on the desk between the two computers. I wrote my name on it for 2:30 p.m., which was about an hour and a half after the last time I used it; there weren't that many people there, and I figured that would give anyone who wanted to enough time to use it.
When I went into that room at 2:30 p.m., that same guy was sitting at the computer I'd signed up for. He had already hassled me about it this morning, and had tried to tell the staffperson that I was creating problems there all the time, which was not at all true. At 2:30 p.m., when I said it was my turn on the computer, he pointed at the sign-up sheet and said "See what it says." Someone had written in, in pen, "You can't sign up ahead of time." If you can't sign up ahead of time, what's the point of having a sign-up sheet?
There were two separate sections on the sign-up sheet for the two computers. As he and I were talking, the other person left the other computer. I said to the guy "Do you have a preference about these computers, because the one that you're on is a lot easier for me to use; that's why I signed up for it." He said "You can use that other one," and I, not raising my voice, said "But I signed up for the one you're on for 2:30 p.m., and that's what time it is now."
He jumped up, ripped the sign-up sheet off the desk, ripped it into pieces, picked up the chair he'd been sitting in and slammed it back down on the floor, where it slightly hit someone, and yelled "NOW YOU'VE MADE ME ANGRY! SEE WHAT YOU DID? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! ARE YOU GOING TO DO THIS EVERYWHERE YOU GO!!"
He kept yelling at me, even when one of the other clients to him "You are a little out of control." I didn't know if getting up and moving from the room would make him attack me, or if sitting still would. It was also my turn on the computer, so I sat still while he continued to rage. There didn't seem to be any staff around, and as he continued to yell at me and lunge toward me with the upper half of his body, I saw the phone sitting on the desk and I picked it up and dialed "911" and told the police what was going on.
While I was on the phone, another resident had gone to someone else who was on staff (the reasonable staffperson from that morning had disappeared in the past few hours, as far as I knew) and I was told that the director had been called and that I'd have to leave for the day.
The police came; I told one of the officers what had happened. He didn't allow me to talk to the staffperson, (not the guy in his 50's) who had already made the decision, without having talked to me at all or hearing my side of the story, that I would have to leave. After talking to me, the officer went over to the guy and the staffperson, and within a few minutes they were all laughing.
The officer came back to me and said "The director was called and he said that you can't come back until 1:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon."
The director is the guy who had responded to my being threatened there before by walking in and saying "There should be Haldol in the sprinkler system."
That's who I'm supposed to talk to on Monday about whether or not I can go back.
I didn't ANYTHING to the guy in his 50's; he was completely out of control and I didn't know what else to do except call the police. He hasn't stopped harassing me since the first day I was there, and he hasn't stopped trying to get me kicked out since the first day, either.
@8:34 p.m.
--Date/No Date
A guy at Another Way asked me out today. I said "Yes, we can go out sometime." Then we talked some more. He asked me if I had any pets. I said I had a cat. He asked me what the name of my pet was. I said "I don't feel like saying." He said "It's probably something like 'Milky' or 'Cherry Pie.'"
I told him I didn't think we should go out on a date after all.
A few minutes later, he walked up to me and said "I want you to know that I still care about you." I've only ever had completely casual conversation with him; when he said that, I said "Would you please get out of my face?"
After the issue happened with the guy who freaked out over the sign-up sheet, which the "Date/No Date" guy witnessed, the "Date/No Date" guy walked up to me on the street and said "He probably wouldn't have hurt you." I told him to get lost.
I'd given that guy in his 50's all the time and chances in the world to not be harassing, to not be threatening; I had no idea what he was going to do next. He backed off as soon as he saw that I'd called the police.
I didn't get any broken bones today, so I really don't think I did anything wrong.
Copyright L. Kochman June 30, 2011 @ 8:42 p.m.
--When I got back to the shelter tonight, the female resident who might be a pedophile was sitting in her car with the male resident who only took a brief respite from harassing me during the few days a couple of weeks ago when he was making "love of my life" comments around me. They were both smiling cruel smiles. As I walked by and said hello, the woman said "You look a little winded today." I got a few feet past her car and said, loudly, back "You look a little fat today."
I wish I could do better than saying things like that when people are that awful. However, I don't think that any of the etiquette books I ever read had a chapter on how to cover exactly the situation I'm going through. That's no excuse of course, but I am mentioning it in my own defense.
The female resident who moved in a couple of days ago sat behind me while I was writing on WordPress and yelled on the phone to whoever she was talking to about her flooded house "I've got to get everything out of the wet. I have to get it out of the wet." I lost my temper again and said, loudly, "SUCH a PIG!" Then she went on to talk about getting things "fresh and clean." Finally I told her that she could go into another room to get some privacy, and she got off the phone.
--Corporate harassment of my lawyer
Last year, before I ended up in the hospital, I made it very clear to Anheuser- Busch, the company that produces Budweiser beer, that it wasn't my fault or my lawyer's fault that people had been using Budweiser and Bud Light logos to show support for me. I didn't say that to be ungracious or ungrateful to people who wanted to show support for me; I said it because I didn't want that company to feel pressure to attack my lawyer in order to avoid being attacked by the big harassers.
I noticed the other day that a Bud Light truck had an image of liquid beer along the edges of the truck. Today, I also saw a carton which originally held a case of beer that has promotions on it saying
"PORT PARADISE 4: HERE WE GO"
There's a picture of a cruise ship on it; the ship says "Bud Light" on the side. Next to the cruise ship, it says:
"LOOK INSIDE FOR YOUR CODE AND YOU COULD WIN A CRUISE OR OTHER GREAT PRIZES."
There's no reason for anyone to try to humiliate my lawyer for any reason. The fact that he has defended me doesn't mean that his ability to have a career should be impaired by this undermining behavior by Anheuser-Busch.
@8:18 p.m.
--Another Way
Today, at Another Way, I found out that the guy in his 50's who hasn't stopped harassing me and trying to get me kicked out when I object to his abuse is one of the staff at the place--or at least he says he's staff. If he's one of the staff, what was he doing using the computers that are supposed to be for the clients? This morning, a reasonable staffmember whom I'd never seen before and I agreed that a sign-ups sheet with times on it for people to write their names was a good idea. She taped it to the table on the desk between the two computers. I wrote my name on it for 2:30 p.m., which was about an hour and a half after the last time I used it; there weren't that many people there, and I figured that would give anyone who wanted to enough time to use it.
When I went into that room at 2:30 p.m., that same guy was sitting at the computer I'd signed up for. He had already hassled me about it this morning, and had tried to tell the staffperson that I was creating problems there all the time, which was not at all true. At 2:30 p.m., when I said it was my turn on the computer, he pointed at the sign-up sheet and said "See what it says." Someone had written in, in pen, "You can't sign up ahead of time." If you can't sign up ahead of time, what's the point of having a sign-up sheet?
There were two separate sections on the sign-up sheet for the two computers. As he and I were talking, the other person left the other computer. I said to the guy "Do you have a preference about these computers, because the one that you're on is a lot easier for me to use; that's why I signed up for it." He said "You can use that other one," and I, not raising my voice, said "But I signed up for the one you're on for 2:30 p.m., and that's what time it is now."
He jumped up, ripped the sign-up sheet off the desk, ripped it into pieces, picked up the chair he'd been sitting in and slammed it back down on the floor, where it slightly hit someone, and yelled "NOW YOU'VE MADE ME ANGRY! SEE WHAT YOU DID? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?! ARE YOU GOING TO DO THIS EVERYWHERE YOU GO!!"
He kept yelling at me, even when one of the other clients to him "You are a little out of control." I didn't know if getting up and moving from the room would make him attack me, or if sitting still would. It was also my turn on the computer, so I sat still while he continued to rage. There didn't seem to be any staff around, and as he continued to yell at me and lunge toward me with the upper half of his body, I saw the phone sitting on the desk and I picked it up and dialed "911" and told the police what was going on.
While I was on the phone, another resident had gone to someone else who was on staff (the reasonable staffperson from that morning had disappeared in the past few hours, as far as I knew) and I was told that the director had been called and that I'd have to leave for the day.
The police came; I told one of the officers what had happened. He didn't allow me to talk to the staffperson, (not the guy in his 50's) who had already made the decision, without having talked to me at all or hearing my side of the story, that I would have to leave. After talking to me, the officer went over to the guy and the staffperson, and within a few minutes they were all laughing.
The officer came back to me and said "The director was called and he said that you can't come back until 1:00 p.m. on Monday afternoon."
The director is the guy who had responded to my being threatened there before by walking in and saying "There should be Haldol in the sprinkler system."
That's who I'm supposed to talk to on Monday about whether or not I can go back.
I didn't ANYTHING to the guy in his 50's; he was completely out of control and I didn't know what else to do except call the police. He hasn't stopped harassing me since the first day I was there, and he hasn't stopped trying to get me kicked out since the first day, either.
@8:34 p.m.
--Date/No Date
A guy at Another Way asked me out today. I said "Yes, we can go out sometime." Then we talked some more. He asked me if I had any pets. I said I had a cat. He asked me what the name of my pet was. I said "I don't feel like saying." He said "It's probably something like 'Milky' or 'Cherry Pie.'"
I told him I didn't think we should go out on a date after all.
A few minutes later, he walked up to me and said "I want you to know that I still care about you." I've only ever had completely casual conversation with him; when he said that, I said "Would you please get out of my face?"
After the issue happened with the guy who freaked out over the sign-up sheet, which the "Date/No Date" guy witnessed, the "Date/No Date" guy walked up to me on the street and said "He probably wouldn't have hurt you." I told him to get lost.
I'd given that guy in his 50's all the time and chances in the world to not be harassing, to not be threatening; I had no idea what he was going to do next. He backed off as soon as he saw that I'd called the police.
I didn't get any broken bones today, so I really don't think I did anything wrong.
Copyright L. Kochman June 30, 2011 @ 8:42 p.m.