odd

not all comparisons are valid.

you don't expect the same treatment,
you don't elicit the same reaction,
when the circumstances are different.

differences, however, could get lost
on a selfish mind.

let me point them out.

= = = = =

how come i call you out
but not the other neighbor
for parking on the (one-lane) street
(in front of our garage)?

i've discussed this extensively in previous blogs
so i'm keeping it short here:
you have a garage.
they don't.

and please,
that nonsense about not parking there
because your uncle told you not to
because of your mom's condition?

you have been parking on the street
(the whole day, daily, for years)
years before your mom's condition came about.

what sort of logic do you have?

you lie so blatantly.
appalling.

= = = = =

others leave stuff for distribution with my mom, too,
so why not you.

the differences:

-  the others live far away
and use my parents' house
as a drop-off / halfway point.

you are just next-door.

why is there a need to transfer your stuff
from your house to my parents'?

-  you have a maid
who passes the intended recipients' houses
every schoolday.

why not ask your maid to distribute those stuff for you?

we're not a distribution center.
my mom does it as a favor.

do you really expect my octogenarian mom
to distribute things herself?

no.  she asks me.

= = = = =

you say our trash is out
so why can't yours be, too.

the difference?
our bags are within the unfenced part of our property.
yours are on public space.

= = = = =

you say your trash
is not the only thing scattered in the alley
but leaves from our trees, too.

listen to yourself, LEAVES!

you really think
the leaves from our trees
and your disgusting garbage
are on the same league?!

let me emphasize they are not.

and if you do not see the reason why
then maybe you should find the simplest of persons
to give you an answer within your comprehension.

you used to have a tree, too,
which shed leaves profusely.
i never complained about those leaves
all those years that i was sweeping them.

the other neighbor has trees up to now.
i don't complain about their leaves.

not because we have trees, too.
but because they're, well, leaves.

i complain about human trash.
i complain about your pets' pee and poop.
i complain about your pets being in our property daily for years.

= = = = =

you say my (87-year-old) dad told your (7-year-old) granddaughter
that you could throw your trash in our bags.
(my dad says he didn't say such a thing.
i'll discuss it in another blog.)

you say the other neighbor
throws their trash in our bag, too,
(did you see them?)
and i just let it pass.

hmmm...  i go back and forth
from my parents' place to mine
quite a number of times each day.

i do recall chancing upon their renters
throwing cigarette butts in the alley.
i did call their attention to it.

i can't recall calling them out for trash in our bag though.
i don't call out when i am not sure.

yours i'm sure about.
i see the pile on your side
then later see the same items
stuffed in our bag.
some are distinctive.
they could not just have been identical.

and if transferring them to ours is not bad enough,
you do it by transferring them to the wrong bag.
i have to do the segregation myself.

pabasurahan mo na, ipag-se-segregate mo pa!
#AbaMatinde

= = = = =

you're not the only ones who go swimming in our pool.
yeah.
but you're the only ones who do so on short notice.

and in case you think
saying you're going to be quick
makes things inconsequential,
it doesn't.

the effort and expense to clean the pool
for a quick dip and a longer stay
are just the same.

if it is true, as you say,
that you are going to be really quick
then why not just go
to the public pool two blocks away
and take your quick dip there?

that way, you're going to spare
my mom, and my cousin, and the cleaner
the concern of having to finish the clean-up
of that infrequently-used pool
before your arrival.

uhm, that is not likely to cross your mind, right?

oh, well...  we've adjusted to you 😒
i already told my mom
the second time it happened
to just have the pool cleaned
even without receiving a notice from you yet.

we (and you!) already know the months
you're going to go there anyway.
unlike the others who go there
simply to visit their dearly departed,
in your case, there has to be a private pool in your itinerary.

the thing is, we don't know the exact date.
having the pool cleaned too early
means it would already be leave-strewn again
by the time you arrive.

we're not going to hire another cleaner for that.
we hire a cleaner for when the water needs to be drained.
you therefore just have to make do with a pool that's not freshly-cleaned.
our apologies 🙃

= = = = =

you say
i used to say
this person was focusing too much
on this establishment
yet i am doing the same with you.


uhm, don't flatter yourself.
i try not to focus on you.
had i focused on you,
this would not have persisted for years.

but i do have a memory
(even skinner's rats
were able to recognize patterns)

so my patience eventually ran out
(you must admit,
you're off the scale).


and a big difference between me and the other person?
i do not seek out irritants.

he was complaining about
shirtless men far down the road.

he was complaining about
people looking at him.

how do you see those things
if you do not make an effort
to look out the gate
and stretch out your neck?

how do you see someone's looking at you
unless you're looking at the other person, too?

me, i complain about stuff right before my eyes.
i complain about stuff i have to clean myself.

there is no way i can not see these things.

they're right outside my gate,
on a spot within the unfenced part of our property.

they're in front of my car,
on a spot again within the unfenced part of our property.

they're right on my way.
there is no other route.

i actually have to take credit
for putting up with so much for so long.
party's over though, so shape up.

= = = = =

next time you complain about being singled out,
just remember, you're not like the rest.
you're different, and not in a good way.