... "ill-mannered neighbor"
Back in college, heading downstairs one evening, I slipped on the bottom step of the stairway on some ice someone had tracked in, stumbled, and broke the window at the bottom of the stairs. Cut my chin, got some stitches, and that should have been the end of it. The window was fixed, and they put a wooden plank across the middle of it.
I get a letter from the school with a $35 bill for replacing the broken window. I appeal, thinking that was a dumb, dangerous place for a window, it was their staircase that had the ice and snow on it, no handrails, etc. And they now had a barrier across it - presumably because it was dangerous. And besides, I didn't have the $35, and that was a lot of beer.
So I appeal. I go to this student run session with 2 or 3 other students appealing various fines. Each of them make their case, are ruled against, and it's my turn. They conclude I have to pay. ''Oh really'', I say. ''How about this: I pay for my stitches, you pay for the window, and I don't sue you for having this dangerous situation that could have ended much worse''. After needing a few days for deliberation, they agreed of course - I get a letter with each of our cases and the results, me being the only one having the fine overturned.
In that letter, for each of the appellants there was a short summary, the argument, and the result. Mine had that as well, except in the last part where they told the result, it said, quote, ''while we found Mr. ---- to be a rather unpleasant sort...''. Like I'm supposed to feel bad I didn't just fold like the others. I still have that letter.
I go home at the end of the quarter and find they've sent a copy to my home address as well, for my mom to read I suppose. Except where did they think I learned to fight back?
''A rather unpleasant sort''. Yeah I get that way when someone is trying to pull some BS. Except all I did was tell them what they were risking over $35, I wasn't unpleasant at all, just the message.