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Slightly Passive Communication, Part 2

by Nicholas Barnard on March 3rd, 2007

So, I received a handwritten response to my heater note:

CLIFF –

WE CAN TALK WHEN WE’RE BOTH HOME, BUT THIS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY:

AS I’M SURE YOU’VE GATHERED, IT WAS ME TURNING OFF THE HEATER. 1: I DON’T WANT THE HOUSE TO BURN DOWN. 2: THERE’S NO REASON IT SHOULD BE ON IF YOU’RE NOT HOME TO BENEFIT FROM IT. OTHERWISE, YOU’RE DRIVING THE ELECTRIC BILL UP & CREATING A FIRE DANGER. YOU’RE RIGHT, I SHOULD’VE TALKED YOU ABOUT IT, BUT I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT IT UNTIL IT HAPPENED AGAIN. THIS IS THE ONLY REASON & TIMES I HAVE ENTERED YOUR ROOM W/OUT PERMISSION. I DO NOT WANT TO COME HOME TO FIND OUT I NO LONGER HAVE A HOME. DURING THE WINTER PORTABLE HEATERS CAUSE MOST FIRES HERE.

LIKE I SAID, WE CAN TALK ABOUT THIS, BUT PLEASE DON’T LEAVE IT ON WHILE YOU’RE NOT HOME ANY MORE.

THANK YOU,

[BARRON]

So, yes it was hand written in all caps! (okay to be fair, there were a few lower case letters written at the same size as the capitals.) Also, I had to resist the urge to correct grammar when I was transcribing this just now. I had read this a while ago and put it out of my sight to make sure I wasn’t over reacting.

But I’ve come to the conclusion it is generally better not to talk to her. After I wrote the Barron blog entry, I thought about taking Cindy’s advice to heart and working it out. But, I thought some more about it, and really realized that I don’t really value our relationship, and I think she is not someone I want to be around in general, so why put more effort into it? I mean she hasn’t even mastered the common written use of the verb to be. I’m not looking for full blown conjugation skills, just your average knowledge..

So my response, which is again taped to the heater:

To [Barron]:

  1. You still shouldn’t be in my room.
  2. I pay my share of the electric bill.
  3. I am responsible for my cats, they benefit from the heat.
  4. The thermostat is set to 60 degrees when I am not home, this isn’t excessive.
  5. I have blocked the heating vent in my room because there is too much dust in the system and it annoys my allergies, thus I don’t get the benefit of the central heating system in my room.
  6. This is a ceramic space heater, it doesn’t get hot enough to start a fire. I was at one point worried that it was a fire hazard, but I am now satisfied that is it not a fire hazard.
  7. I will not have you dictating what I can and cannot do within my room. You do not own this house; you do not have that right.

Oh, and anyways I’ve been apartment/roommate hunting for about a month now..

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