Spiky Chrysanthemums
The tutoring sessions have earned a much welcomed respite with the arrival of summer. I have serious doubts about doing it again but should there be a change of mind, I'd need to set some strict criteria first. One thing for sure is I don't want my home to be "the" classroom. I simply can't take people poking at my things and asking me questions about my lifestyle.
Next is a polite way to convey to this ex-student to stop reporting his "findings" about my pad, my kids and me to the cafe people. I feel exposed for want of a better word. I have stopped going there for months (although Porky still pulls me towards that direction on our walks). After all, before it becomes such a gossipy place we are there almost every day.
What transpired one particular Sunday night had me so pissed off I decided to end this tutoring business for good. Friday night I received a call from this ex-student, said he needed help with his homework to be handed in on Monday. I told him to confirm on Saturday. He didn't. Naturally, I wasn't expecting him. Best of all he would not be disturbing Porky.
It's been a week since Porky caught kennel cough at the groomer's which had turned nasty into early bronchitis. It was a dry cough and he had been hacking. I had been feeding him bread because his throat was raw from all the coughing. I was planning to have a quiet night tending my pig when an acquaintance called to say they were at a neighborhood restaurant. I didn't want to leave Porky alone so I declined.
I had Porky on the sofa, patting his back to coax him to sleep when a sudden emergency had me rushing out. When I was in the taxi I realized I had forgotten my phone which was charging in the kitchen. I didn't make much of it at the time.
Imagine my horror to discover during the approximate two hours I was out, this ex-student had been banging and ringing my doorbell. He had convinced the security guard I had fainted in my apartment because he claimed to have a SOLID appointment with me. Plus, he could hear my phone ringing inside the house.
What came after was more incredulous, he brought in the nosy waitress from the cafe and both proceeded to wreck havoc to my door. Convinced I was near death, the waitress rallied the acquaintances at the restaurant to the rescue as well. Unbelievable but there it was, a congregation of people outside my pad yelling my name, banging the door and ringing the doorbell. (Everything was recorded by the security camera mounted on the wall opposite my pad.)
The episode finally ended when I phoned the ex-student to see if he had finished his homework. The phone was passed along with questions like, "Don't play, open the door.", "We are all outside your door, open up.", "We can hear your phone ringing.", "You sure you are not home?". Of course I am sure. Retards.
When I came back the first thing I asked the stupid guard was, "Has my son been barking all this time?" He said, "Yes." This one word was all it took to unleash my fury on all those involved in this fiasco. I told him my son had been coughing raw and you guys made him bark for two hours? Porky lost his voice afterwards.
I have no idea there are so many drama kings and queens who love none other than a good drama. I have deleted the main culprits and hid the others on facebook. I have vehemently complained to the management and the security company. The guard has obviously neglected his duties and happily participated to see the drama unfold. Never in all my years have I felt my boundaries so violated at my doorstep, literally.
After I posted the status, friends NOT acquaintances made comments such as," You are not home.", "It's time to cut the retards out of your life." The most ridiculous thing was, except for the ex-student, the guard had greeted me when I came back with my take outs, the acquaintance had spoken to me on the phone and one from the group had even come up to take a package. It's not like I was MIA.
I bought some chrysanthemums the other day and was curious about the name. Staring at the screen, I have to shake my head and appreciate the sense of humor life plays on us. They are called spiky chrysanthemums. What a coincidence, this is exactly how I feel after the incident, spiky!
