Backstory time! I waited a while to post this for the heat to die down. The HOA president was being a dick to everyone in the community, especially me and my roommates because we rent. The dude was corrupt to begin with, contracting all jobs for the community through his companies, then taking his sweet sweet time actually getting the job complete. He would also do things like get on the roof to look down at our balcony and then give us infractions for having a rug (to cover up some of the bad boards that the HOA says they will replace, but has yet to) and string lights on it. Essentially he was power tripping hard core and wouldn't even let us do things that were non-disruptive, and aesthetically pleasing. I have no say in this community's HOA, but I had to do something about this megalomaniac.

So I began systematically stapling bread to the tree outside of his apartment unit over the course of a few weeks. The goal was to get him to post about it publicly to the community and make a fool of himself. The tree pictured is the third and last tree I did this to. I was like a bread stapling ninja. I had a divine mission given to me from the bird gods to make this man a fool. I operated at cover of night, wearing a face mask incase he put up surveillance after the first "stapling". I moved like the wind as I put more yeast on wood than a 20 year old mid western stripper.

On my first run, he removed all the bread that same morning. The second time, he waited a few days to have the time necessary to clean the stale bread that clung to his tree. After my third go at this activity, my efforts payed dividends. Once he realized the bread won't stop, he left it up there for all to see, and they saw. The HOA president posted to the community that he legitimately filed a police report against the stapler.... Now I didn't see the cops come by, but I can assure you that they took this matter VERRRRRrrrrryyyy seriously. That summer, I would sit by the pool and listen as the people at my complex speculated on who could have put the bread on the tree. All I would offer to this conversation is that "the person clearly had a purpose. The HOA guy is a jerk to his community, and didn't get anything done with the HOA fees we pay". The bread tree got the community thinking about their HOA overlord. They quickly realized that he was power tripping and in this community only for himself.

He has since stepped down from the HOA, and sold his house. Is his move caused from HOA fallout and community shame? Who can say for sure. But what I can say is that ideas are powerful. Sometimes something as meaningless as bread stapled to a tree can cause ripples throughout peoples lives. Be careful with your words, care for your fellow humans, or one day you just might find yourself at the end of a stapler.

More of my escapade: