Friday, Jul. 04, 2008 - 7:42 a.m.

Fast, then slow

One of the bunnies (the small gray one) in our court disappeared a couple of months ago. I found out later that one of the Young Dipshits in back ran it over because he shut off his headlights as soon as he turned into the driveway. He must have been driving pretty fast, because the rabbits are quick and always alert for cars.

To clarify, our "street" is actually an about-200-feet-long driveway lined with six houses. In the back is a house where the Young Dipshits live. Some of them work, but a lot of them don't. The landlord says he "sort of adopted" them and implied (ok, SAID) that he doesn't charge them rent. In exchange a couple of the guys (whom he addresses as "retard" and "idiot") do occasional weed-whacking of the front yards (and butchered some of our roses that way).

There are at least three toddlers living in our court. And it's only a matter of time before one of them gets run over. I feel really bad for the big white bunny. He hops around, but he's stopped taking carrots from our hands and he seems lonely now.

So last Monday evening I was out front and I heard the sound of hitting, and a woman's voice crying and begging. I was torn for a moment, tempted to shut my ears and mind my own business. Then I walked across the court and knocked on L's door. The sound stopped right away, but it was a minute or two before L came to the door. I could barely see him through the security screen, but I maintained eye contact.

JB: Hi! Are you L? I'm Jerry. [pause] Nice to meet you. [pause] What's going on here?
L: What do you mean?
JB: Well, I heard what sounds like someone hitting someone, and if I can hear it from all the way over there, it might be a matter for the police.
L: [says nothing]
JB: Someone else in here?
L: My wife.
JB: So what's going on?
L: [pause] We were role-playing.
JB: Well, if it's a game, you might want to close the window first.
L: [says nothing]
JB: Nice to meet you! [walks away]

Maybe he was telling the truth, and Mrs. L is just a good actress. I lived with dB for a couple of years and got used to hearing stories about beatings and edge play and collaring ceremonies. I even spanked Ish pretty hard after she asked me to (and she got mad at me for not spanking hard enough).

On the other hand, Mrs. L looks like she might be pregnant, and the typical male abuser will escalate the abuse when the abusee gets pregnant. Maybe I should have just called the cops. But if I'd done that, it would have been a while before they arrived. And when I knocked, whatever was going on in that house stopped immediately.

I dunno.

This, by the way, is a strong argument for getting to know your neighbors BEFORE you're forced by circumstance to interact with them. Because if you're forced to interact, the first impressions created thereby are bound to be negative.

I want to get a passport, but to do that you have to mail them your actual birth certificate. (They mail it back to you eventually. Probably.) Since I only have the one copy, I thought I'd apply for a copy of my birth cert first. So I filled out all the paperwork, got it notarized, and sent the app and a check in mid-May. Yesterday (six weeks later) I got a postcard saying "Thank you for your recent request."

Excuse me? That is pretty fucking insulting. Recent, right. [checking my bank account online] They finally cashed my check yesterday, which means it sat on somebody's desk for six weeks. The postcard says getting my birth cert copies will take 12 weeks "from the time we received your request". Or will it be 12 weeks from yesterday? I'm guessing the latter.

Gee, I can't wait to wait for my passport.

Oh yeah, happy Independence Day. I hope you don't have to work.