Nick's Place

March 03, 2007

Slightly Passive Communication, Part 2

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..

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..

Why do you have to be so condescending towards her? OK, it bugs me too when people don't speak well, but I really can't hold that against them. I didn't pay enough attention in history or geography class either, but people don't hold that against me.

You could at least make an effort to comply or, if you don't agree, do it without being overly snippy about it. There are ways to disagree and then there are your ways.

Believe me, I totally "get" your frustration, but you could make things alot easier on yourself if at least you didn't let people realize that you think you're so much smarter than they are. OK, so you might be, but ever hear of the word "humble"? It will get you alot farther, and believe me, Nick - I KNOW that of which I speak. You know I know.

I'll call you this weekend, I promise.

C

I'm a bit confused. Because I keep having people tell me "your smart" and I don't fully get or agree with that all the time.

But honestly Barron is one class of having a Bachelors (she actually tells people she does have one, which isn't that far off the mark in my book.) so I expect a general mastery of the English language. Say "WE CAN TALK WHEN WE'RE BOTH HOME, BUT THIS WHAT I HAVE TO SAY" out loud to yourself. Its glaring in its grammatical incorrectness. This isn't me touting my intelligence, this is basic english grammar, and given that Barron has a Bachelors she should be able to utilize the English language accurately. That isn't asking much.

And just to be fair, I've sent emails that have been pretty poorly worded, after reading those I expect to be called out on them.

But the general theme in my bitchings about Barron is that she is not just a poor communicator, but a horrendous communicator. So this is just an extension of that.

Honestly if she was a polite courteous effective communicator it probably wouldn't have even reached this blog. I point back to one of my first blog entries: Disclaimer. This is where I vent...