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Thu 12 Dec, 2002 12:14 pm
so there i was sitting out front of my house catching some rays yesterday reading a national gerographic when my next door neighbor comes jogging by and spots me. being the polite neighborly type i just nod and keep reading but he decided to make conversation by asking me what i am reading. I hold up the National Geographic and show him the article on recent discoveries about hominid development in Africa. He goes postal on me ranting that i am being seduced by the devil and that he will not allow such sinful materials in his house. I nod politely and go back to my reading. He then goes into a tirade about how people like me are ruining this great nation with our worship of the devil. So i quietly fold up my chair and go inside my house. So i ask you all why do i or anyone else put up with this crap? I am in my yard bothering no one and yet suffer the brunt of this idiot because he is a neighbor. What is socially correct in responding to this situation?
Tell him to fuvk off, unless you feel it would jeopardize you in any way. Seriously. He's forfeited any right to a "socially correct" response. If you care to, respond in kind about ignorant, supersititious, self-righteous fundamentalist zealots and the effect they're having on the world. After all, he started it ;-)
Love patiodog's response. I'd love to have the courage to do that.
Legally, he accosted you. Tell him to move on or you will contact the authorites and file charges.
It's the law.
Can you tell us a little more about this neighbor?
At this point the differential diagnosis is between:
A. A fundamentalist religious zealot
(an especially annoying type of idjit)
and
B. A psychotic
BTW: He wouldn't have been allowed to treat you that way in a public location, either.
Socially correct thing to do? Toss him off your property on his ear maybe? I'd be laughing so hard it would take a while but... Heck, it's your yard. I wouldn't worry about what's "socailly acceptable'.
I want to know what made it "my house"? Wasn't it,"Your house"?
My grandfather used to rid our yard of unpleasant dogs with the use of shotgun shell reloads filled with rock salt . . . not lethal, and definitely makes a point . . . you might want to check local ordinance first, though, this might not be "civic-ly correct."
Tell him,
"You're absolutely right. By the way, would you care to come to the Black Mass we're holding next Tuesday? We're going to spit on the cross, burn a Bible and sacrifice a naked virgin we're going to abduct from your Sunday School. Oh, by the way, your mother says 'hello' from Hell, and 'wish you were here'. Have a great day- go with Satan!"
He PROBABLY is simply an annoying fundamentalist zealot in which case telling him to f*ck off is perfect.
However, without knowing more about this guy I could not completely rule out the possibility that he is psychotic.
While that may only be a slight possibility, I would never advise you to deal with an agitated psychotic person by confrontation.
Just be sure you have a good idea of what you are dealing with here. Then, if he is merely the jerk we think he is, tell him off.
Be very careful. You never know how far people will go... Have you ever read "Sick Puppy" by Carl Hiaasen? It's about an environmentalist whacko who stalks and taunts a man because he threw some fast food packaging out the window of his car... it just really rubbed him the wrong way and he thought he'd teach the guy a lesson......
The local authorities probably already know this wacko. It wouldn't hurt to make a call, just so there's a record. Who knows? Maybe he's not been taking his medicine.
He sounds like a bit more than a zealot. Whatever his religious leanings, he is definitely out of order, and out of control. Maybe making the call would be a good idea. It's possible that the police have a dossier on this nut.
Have you ever had any communication with this guy before? I think that you were wise by just walking away without confronting him.
Is his name Bob Jones or Pat Robertson - maybe, Jerry Falwell (possibly the unPresident in drag)?
great answers you all, my neighbor across the street who is a city cop said i could have shot him after inviting him into my house and claim self-defense but that ALMOST seemed like a drastic measure. i might add that last summer while my car was parked in the street he removed the "darwin fish" from my car so obviously i had to replace it with a Gefilte Fish to which he had not a clue and didn't bother it. However i have decided that when i now go outside in the front of my house i am going to place my deer rifle (unloaded) beside my chair and just happened to pick it up when i see him come by. seems reasonable to me.
dyslexia- Cut the crap. YOUR gun might not be loaded, but HIS might be. If this guy is paranoid, and you get involved in his delusional system, watch out! I think that you handled it just right the first time. it is risky business to play "chicken" with a nuthouse case!
Phoenix is right...this guy sounds like a paranoid schizophrenic off his meds, so be careful. He already sounds obsessed enough without you adding more reasons for him to go off on you.
yep. if he's been pulling stuff off your car, i'd tread lightly around him. not understanding boundaries is a wee step away from not understanding right and wrong (in the real, rather than the "God talks to me" sense).
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