Titles are hard

[mousme]

 Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I got super busy with various commitments and didn't have the time to sit at the computer and compose an entry to talk about all of it. It's been a busy week, and it doesn't look like it's about to get any less busy any time soon.

I visited with L. and J. (well, only L., but I met J. later), the lesbian couple being harassed by their neighbours. They are just the most adorable people, and what they are going through is horrific. It's been taking place for years now, and it's not an exaggeration to say it has ruined their lives. Not permanently, but right now they can't even have a semblance of normalcy. It's not just verbal harassment, either. They've been assaulted on a couple of occasions, and it sounds like the police have been treating this as a neighbour dispute rather than a clear case of harassment/hate crimes. I am livid on their behalf, because it sounds like the entire case has been badly mishandled from the start. Unfortunately, the situation is beyond salvaging now, not without their putting in time and money and energy that they simply don't have, and I don't blame them for not wanting to put up with it any longer. 

We're setting up a tentative schedule for me to go hang out at their house once a week starting in early February (my schedule isn't free until then, unfortunately), and with any luck they'll be able to sell their house soon and move to a place where they can start fresh.

The rest of the week was taken up with cleaning the house, hosting a potluck for the young Quakers, and work. Oh, and making sandwiches for a Quaker wedding today (which I was unable to attend, due to work, alas). It feels like I haven't had a moment to myself all week, which isn't true, since I actually got to stay home most of Wednesday and just chill. I can only imagine how much worse it would have been had I not had at least one day to myself to do not much.

Tomorrow was supposed to be my one day off before I start a week of training, but of course my landlady has decided to make my life hard again. She's insisting on twelve post-dated cheques (and wanted them two weeks before the first of the month, no less!), so I pushed back a little, and so now we're signing a new twelve-month lease. I refuse to give post-dated cheques for a month-to-month lease, and at least this way I'm slightly more protected than before, although it means a commensurate increase in my rent, which is going to hurt. *sigh* I can't win with her, and it means I have to put up with her in my home for an extended amount of time tomorrow, instead while we sign a new lease. Bleh. Still, it could be worse, and I hope it won't take too long.

I'm going to call it an early night tonight. I've poked at my Romanian lessons a bit, and now that I know how to say "cow" I feel like my life is just that bit more complete. ;) Tomorrow I'll go to Meeting, then come back to deal with the landlady, and maybe after that I'll have a bit of peace and quiet before work starts up again on Monday.

I will say that the highlight of today has been watching the Women's Marches taking place all over the world. It gives me hope, even as fascism soars to new heights to the south of us.

Comments

[tx-cronopio.livejournal.com]

I must say, we have such a sanitized image of Canada here. I think about that kind of harassment happening in Alabama, or Oklahoma, or God, maybe even out in Alberta, but in Ottawa? I'm just baffled.

Good for you for helping!

[mousme.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we're not immune to bigotry, unfortunately. It's relatively rare, but not rare enough for my taste.

[kiwano.livejournal.com]

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, I got super busy with various commitments and didn't have the time to sit at the computer and compose an entry to talk about all of it. It's been a busy week, and it doesn't look like it's about to get any less busy any time soon.


I'm just glad that you're continuing to post, even if it's not always with the regularity that you planned. Thank you for keeping at it.

The situation with L and J sounds terrible; I imagine that it could be more frustrating hearing about the police's failure to respond, given your police-adjacent career (that I vaguely recally not being adjacent to the right bits of policing to be helpful with this situation) :P

[mousme.livejournal.com]

It is a sad fact that my police-adjacent job does not, in fact, put me in a position to help at this juncture. If I'd been involved when it first started, I probably could have helped more, by giving the correct advice on how to proceed in the first place, but I wasn't there and so they were given the wrong advice by everyone they encountered, including a lawyer.

This is a municipal matter, too, and I work at the federal level, so there's absolutely nothing for me to do at this point except be a source of moral support. If they wanted to fight this, they'd basically have to take it to court against the municipal police for mishandling the investigation from the start (treating trespass and literal assault as a neighbour dispute over fencing, when it's clear the fence was merely a pretext for assault and harassment), and then take further measures to get a restraining order out against at least three different neighbours (it started with one but has now escalated, due to that first neighbour rallying support). Basically, it's a mess, and they just want it over with, and I don't blame them in the slightest.

So, yes, I'm frustrated, but I'm trying not to let my frustration prevent me from giving them the help that they want, and not the "help" that I think they need. The two are very different things, and respecting what they want is more important right now.

[kiwano.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the municipal/federal thing was what had me figuring that your police-adjacent career would be frustratingly unhelpful. I'm glad to hear that you seem to be managing that frustration well though.

[colesdragon.livejournal.com]

What an awful situation for L and J. I've been in more minor situations where complaints went un-adressed and that was certainly frustrating. I cannot imagine what this must be like for them especially with the physical assault not being taken seriously by the police.

I am wishing them continued strength in order to get themselves out of this terrible place they are in.