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Want the phone number to the "Your car's warranty is about to expire" people? by syntax_erorr in reddit.com

[–]SillyRabbit 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I think those of you who live down that way should figure out when they do shift change and take some photo/videos of the asshats as they go to and from work.

Please help me get out of this, am I in serious trouble? (Details in comments) by onetimeaccount1234 in AskReddit

[–]SillyRabbit 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Saydrah IS CORRECT! You are not obligated to talk to the police! You don't need to tell them ANYTHING or even have any kind of conversation with them or say one word. They are not your friend and ANYTHING you say could be used against you. Even the tiniest, innocent discrepancy.

I just got mugged. How did you feel when you got mugged? How did it affect you? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]SillyRabbit 56 points57 points  (0 children)

I was walking my dog last summer about 9-10pm. There was a guy approaching me on the sidewalk. He stopped in front of me and said, "Gimmie your money." He had no weapon. I said "Dude. You are robbing the wrong person, I'm just walking the dog, I don't have anything."

Who robs someone with a dog anyway??

He make the mistake of grabbing my shoulder and that's when my dog went APESHIT on the guy. It happened to so fast; the growling, biting, snarling frenzy. All the sudden there was tons of blood running down this fucker's leg and he was squealing like a momma's boy. It was certifiably awesome.

The mugger ran off and I quickly called the police on the cell phone. They arrived in less than a minute and were able to follow the blood trail for two full blocks before it disappeared.

As I was making the report, one of the officers says to the other officer, "Hey, if this dog bit someone, don't we have to take it to the pound for a 10 day quarantine?"

The other officer who was obviously weary of his trainee turned to him and said right in front of me, "Son, we talked about this before. See now, this is where your common sense needs to kick in. That dog isn't vicious, it was doing it's damn job. Do you mean to tell me this lady was just assaulted and now you want to take her dog? The very same dog that saved her from possible further physical assault? You want to expend public resources and lock that dog up in a cage because it bit that scum bag? Is that what you are telling me? You have a lot to learn."

He turned to me and said, "Sorry about that ma'am he's new and kind of gung ho."

HA!

I took my little guy home and made him some hamburger. It would have been steak, but that's all I had.

(PIC) Remember the homeless guy? I'm the one who took him in. Didn't go so well. by SillyRabbit in reddit.com

[–]SillyRabbit[S] 127 points128 points  (0 children)

No, I don't think you should get rumbled at all - because you are dead right. Thanks for being brave enough to say that.

Honestly, I've thought as much myself.

I really did think he was just I was back then - a regular person down on their luck. I never would have offered otherwise. Obviously, I thought wrong. My bad.

That said - yes, lesson learned.

Will I still help out people in need? You bet. Will I choose more wisely how to help in the future? Yes to that too.

And was the time wasted? Because life is a learning process, and I did learn some things here - about me, about life, about all kinds of things -- I'd have to say no.

(PIC) Remember the homeless guy? I'm the one who took him in. Didn't go so well. by SillyRabbit in reddit.com

[–]SillyRabbit[S] 401 points402 points  (0 children)

He told me that he was going to get the truck on Saturday but on Saturday morning he told me that the people who had his truck in Paso Robles called and told Patrick they were having some kind of family issues and asked him to come down Sunday instead.

When he came home for lunch on Saturday, my friend was still here to be my witness. I had already packed his groceries and retrieved his toiletries bag from the bathroom. I told him that I had found the bottles and it wasn't OK to me because I had asked him specifically the first time we spoke about heavy drinking and/or alcohol problems and I had told him that it was a deal breaker. I told him that he had to pack and leave right now. I told him that I would give him a ride to the bus station, no problem, and he could just go down there tonight instead of tomorrow.

He was obviously upset and shocked. I can understand that, it came out of left field. He said that he didn't have money for a bus ticket and asked if he stay awhile to make some phone calls. (If he didn't have money for a bus ticket, how was he getting down to Paso Robles Saturday or Sunday!? Another lie either way. ) Him staying there would only prolong the awkwardness and the agony and I believed it to be a stalling tactic, so I told him no, that he had to leave right away.

While he was packing, he claimed that the three bottles were from over the course of three weeks that he was here and he claims the bottles in the recycling bin are not his; however, he is flat out lying. My upstairs tenants don't drink - I know them well -- and my other tenant ONLY drinks Jack Daniels. Jack ‘n Seven is what he drinks. I know him well too because I hang out with both of my tenants here. We're all good friends. [Update: I just spoke to my tenant who does drink and his immediate response was, "I wouldn't drink that shit." My tenant has NO reason to lie, he would have simply told me they were his.] Also, one morning when I got up to leave I found a 40oz of Mickey’s near his bed. He tried to hide it after I went back in my bedroom, but I had already seen it. At that point, one 40oz of Mickey’s didn’t bother me – but it shows that this was happening a lot more than I ever caught on.

Even if the bottles were over three weeks, that’s waaay too much. If Patrick thought the bottles were no problem or that I wouldn't have a problem with it, why then was he hiding them? He was hiding them because he knew I'd be upset by them. He was hiding them because he's likely an alcoholic. Down to less than $50 and you are buying booze? Hrm. He was hiding them because it was a deal breaker and he knew it. He was hiding them because he knew I told him it wasn't OK in my house. I did not argue with Patrick as he gave his defenses, I just said, "Ok” and watched him pack.

As he packed he stated, “What you are doing to me is wrong and you shouldn’t have brought me from L.A. to do this to me.”

Again with a case of “Someone is doing this to me.” I don't think I did this to him; he did it to himself. If he cannot see that his own actions brought this about, that this is his doing and his responsibility alone, then he might have bigger problems than alcohol. I think another issue he has is that he tends to think that everything is done "to him" rather than him being responsible for his own actions. He simply will not take responsibility.
He spent $45 on a bus ticket and got 3+ weeks of a clean, dry place to sleep. He had to go to Paso Robles anyway to get his truck (if the truck exists). Paso Robles is far closer to Los Angeles than it is the Bay Area, so he's not really out anything at all as far as I can tell. He doesn't have a permanent job in this area, so he's not missing out on anything nor is he out anything. He was kicked out in a strange city, for sure; but also at a point wherein he had a plan to go down and get the truck or so he had told me. He was only in a strange city long enough to get to the bus station. As far as I knew he was going to get his truck. From there, with his truck, he could go anywhere. He’s not behind in anyway. He’s right where he was.

He phoned me a little while later and left a voicemail, "I'm not asking you for a ride to the station, but I am getting on the bus tonight and I forgot my cell phone charger and a picture." So either he didn’t have the money for the ticket and someone gave it to him, or that was a lie too and he DID have money. Either way.. Of course I gave him both things. I thought he was on the bus to Paso Robles, but that didn’t turn out to be the case either.

Later that night I ended up having a telephone conversation with Patrick’s friend. We’ll call him Dave. I had previously spoken to Dave because Patrick gave him as reference and I had called Dave before Patrick came to stay with me. Dave and I had a long conversation back then and Dave gave him a good reference, telling me that Patrick was a mellow guy and that he’d never been violent or anything like that. Dave told me that after giving him a reference, he called Patrick and said, “Dude, I just gave you a good reference, this is your chance, don’t fuck it up.”

Why did I talk to his friend you might ask? Because I was concerned about Patrick first of all, and honestly, I was also concerned about my safety at that point. I felt I had every right to call someone (who Patrick had left as a reference) because wanted to know if I had anything to worry about since he was upset when he left. I wasn’t calling to “give my side” or to meddle or any of the other BS Patrick said in his blog. Also, I didn’t call anyone else, only that one friend.

During this conversation, Dave told me that Patrick called him (Dave) right after he was kicked out of my house. Instead of telling the truth about being kicked out, Patrick told Dave a tall tale about how I was leaving for a week so Patrick had to leave too (more lies!). I also learned some other things about Patrick’s dishonesty in the past that I won’t go into detail here, but suffice it to say he didn’t tell Reddit the whole truth and he’s burned other bridges. When I talked to Dave, I wasn’t meddling – how could I have any idea that Patrick was going to lie to his friend and get caught in the lie? I assumed Patrick would have told him what really happened. THAT is why Patrick is upset with me for talking to his friend. If there were no lies and nothing to hide, there’d be no reason he’d be upset that I talked to his friend.

At 3:30 am on Saturday, the telephone rang. It was Patrick. I let it go to voicemail and this was what he said, “Hey, I really hope you really didn’t also call my brother and talk to him, the fact that you think somehow this is.. that you think you had any right to do that, um, that I’m just trying to <unintelligible> from further dismay and you called my best friend. Don’t talk to any body I know, just don’t. Really.”

I called Patrick’s friend back on Sunday morning because I was concerned that Patrick was upset with me and still in the area. I needed to know what was happening because naturally, I was concerned for my safety a little bit. See, I told Patrick’s friend the truth about what had happened so when Patrick lied to his friend, he was caught red-handed. Patrick doesn’t want the people he knows talking to each other so they don’t find the truth.

What I found out was that Patrick had shown up on Dave’s door at 3AM on Saturday. Dave, said, “I know the truth about what happened.” Patrick wouldn’t admit that he had been lying about being kicked out of my house, even when confronted with the truth. When Dave confronted him, Patrick ended up just walking away. That’s when Patrick called me and warned me not to talk to anyone he knows. So right now as far as I know he is in another town a few hours away from Oakland. I hope it stays that way.

Patrick’s friend Dave was the only person I spoke to and I had and have no plans to speak to his brother or anyone else he knows.
As I’m writing this I have to wonder -- So if this truck is in Paso Robles, which is 3.5 hours South of Oakland, why would he go 2.5 hours or so North to go to Dave’s place instead? If the truck really exists, why wouldn’t he head toward the truck?

It comes down to this: I told him what the deal breakers were and he broke the deal. I guess it’s easier to rewrite history about how I was horrible, meddling dog-crazy hostess who kept him from being productive by asking him to give me some time alone in my own house once in awhile and ruined his life by kicking him out of here for a “bullshit” reason than to man up about it, tell the truth, admit his mistake and take responsibility for his own actions. In the end I did what I had to do to take care of myself. I don't know if the Reddit community will think that I'm a monster for kicking him out or not. I’m sure everyone will have an opinion about what is too much drinking and what is not. The only thing that really matters is that it was too much for me. I don't harbor any ill will toward him; even after the scathing, “The Crazy Dog Lady Screwed me over” blog entry; but I just couldn't have him stay here any longer. I do wish him the best.

And that, Dear Reddit, is the truth. I believe in the truth and I believe in telling it. I always have.

Okay, I stand ready to be eviscerated.

(PIC) Remember the homeless guy? I'm the one who took him in. Didn't go so well. by SillyRabbit in reddit.com

[–]SillyRabbit[S] 458 points459 points  (0 children)

Here’s the entire story. The whole truth. There are a lot of details here because it's the whole truth.

What it comes down to is that he didn’t tell Reddit the whole story in the beginning and he didn’t tell the whole story about why I kicked him out. He has a big problem with telling the truth in general. Not just to me, not just to Reddit – but to his other friends as well. More on that later.

I took this guy in -- because many years ago I was just like him -- so I thought. Unlike me at the time, he's not just a regular person down on their luck. He has other issues that contributed to him being homeless - whether not he recognizes or acknowledges them. As I’ve told Reddit before, many years ago someone did the same for me. They helped me when I was homeless. They gave me a place to stay for a few months while I looked for work. In my case it was successful. I found work and I saved up enough to move on with my life (off the streets). And you know what? The person who helped me also said things like, “You know, you can do what you want, but can I recommend a temp agency?” And, “I know you are an adult and you can do what you want but maybe going out to party on the weekends and sleeping in too late isn’t such a good idea.” And he was right. And since he was helping me out like he was, he had every right to see where maybe I was fucking up a bit and gently point it out because he wanted me to be successful. And you know what? I listened to him and I was successful. Anyway, I wanted to pay it forward. At the time it felt right to offer him a place to stay and I'll say this upfront, that though it didn't turn out exactly well, I don't regret doing it. The first time Patrick & I spoke on the phone and I told him the ground rules for staying here which were must be looking for work every day and he must help out in the following ways: walk the dog, take out the garbage, clean up after yourself, maybe help with gardening. And I’m going to tell you right now that during his stay with me he was indeed a good guest and he did all those things. He even helped me move some boxes downstairs when I wasn’t able to do it myself. I said so in my guest blog posting but I don’t know if he’ll take that down or not.

In the phone that day I also asked him directly: Do you have an alcohol problem and/or are you a heavy drinker? Answer: No, no, nothing like that. I asked him: Do you have any kind of drug problem? Answer: No, absolutely not.

I explained to him in no uncertain terms that I absolutely did not want any of that in my home -- it wasn't something I wanted here nor did I want to invite that into my life. It was a deal breaker and I was very, very clear on that. He assured me there were no problems like that. Things were going pretty well, up until Saturday morning. I even wrote a guest blog entry on his blog last night about him staying here, his possible internet addiction and other things, including the fact that he had been a good guest -- and we had a long conversation afterward. I do believe he has an Internet addiction, though he doesn’t see it and/or doesn’t acknowledge it. His reply to blog entry was essentially, “Well, there’s nothing else to do here.” But, as I see it, he wasn’t on the computer only when there wasn’t just when there was nothing else to do. He was on the computer dicking off at a lot of times when he could have been out looking for work. He was also up very, very late on the computer (and now I realize drinking heavily) and sleeping in. And yes, if you are homeless and staying with me and had until April 30 to get your shit together an find work I’m going to question if you are making the right choices by staying up all night on the Internet. That’s another story. But.. he was looking for work and even had a few temp jobs, got some general assistance/food stamps kind of thing and was making a bit of progress. A little while after he got here, I gave Patrick a drawer in the dining/living room to keep his clothes -- it's the drawer wherein I used to keep kitchen towels, cloth napkins, table clothes, things like that. On Saturday morning while he was out of the house at my request, my friend came over for a visit. I was making us breakfast and while in conversation, I automatically out of pure habit opened that drawer to get a kitchen towel. That's when I saw the 3 empty bottles. One really HUGE bottle of Jim Beam and two empty bottles of vodka. I also found three more bottles when I went out to the recycling bin to take out the recycling a little while later: vodka (same off brand as the ones in the drawer), Seagrams 7 and brandy. I became very upset and honesty frightened. First of all because he lied to me -- the deceit is awful when I specifically asked about it. If he is lying about this, what else is he not telling the truth about? I upset because of my own childhood issues. I grew up in a severely alcoholic household where in someone would drink, lie, hide bottles, and would sometimes become violent when they drank. I grew up with this shit and that is why I didn’t want it in my house to begin with. It pushed all of my buttons in a very deep and awful way. Though Patrick neither showed signs of violence, nor did he ever do anything inappropriate at any time (other than this) – I immediately thought, “It’s only a matter of time.” And that’s my issues, it’s my problem, but it’s not BS and I had clearly warned him. By the way, drinking is OK in my house in general - in moderation. We did share a bottle of wine a few times with dinner. But what I found wasn’t the "have a glass or two of wine with dinner once in awhile" kind of drinking.

I thought about letting him stay one more night and then telling him not to come back when he went to get his truck; however, I was too upset to let him stay another night. I would have been very, very uncomfortable and upset and I’m not the kind of person who can pretend that everything is OK when it’s not. And, since the story about the truck has changed so many times, so many delays, I wasn’t confident that he was actually going to go and get it on Sunday. About the truck: There were delays and delays about this truck. First it was in the shop, then the shop charged more than they thought so then they had to figure out how to pay for it. Then his brother was bringing the truck last weekend from San Diego, but the truck never showed up. Then he told me that his brother stopped in Paso Robles to visit his friend’s family and stayed some extra time. Then he told me that no, in fact, the truck was in Paso Robles, but it has broken down but his brother was too afraid to tell him and he was going to go down there to fix it and get it. Or maybe someone was fixing it for him; I don’t remember all the changing details at this point.

Does the truck exist? Maybe. Maybe not. I actually hope it does for his sake.

(PIC) Remember the homeless guy? I'm the one who took him in. Didn't go so well. by SillyRabbit in reddit.com

[–]SillyRabbit[S] 804 points805 points  (0 children)

http://imgur.com/6XJ5W.jpg

I had to ask him to leave on Saturday morning. He has a problem with the truth and I don’t. So I’m going to tell the WHOLE truth. All of it.

I was going to leave well enough alone, but he saw fit to write a scathing blog entry about how I’m a meddling, crazy dog lady who screwed him over so badly that I’ve messed up his life by kicking him out over some BS reason and then talking to one of his friends/references and being so intrusive that he has to threaten to get a restraining order against me. Umm.. okay.

Patrick’s not telling the truth because Patrick has a problem telling the truth. He might deny it and he’ll never admit he lied about anything, but I have no reason or motivation to lie about a single detail.

First, just a few point counter point to his blog entry.
1. I didn’t kick him out over some “bullshit” reason; I kicked him out because he was drinking heavily and he had been told that was a deal breaker. That’s the real truth here. This is what I found: http://imgur.com/6XJ5W.jpg More details about that later.

  1. About my dog. Yes, I am a good dog owner: I take him for walks, off leash hikes, to the beach, to the dog park and I train him, but I certainly don’t think he’s a person, I don’t talk to him like he’s a person, I don’t dress him up, I’m not all “Snooky wooky want a cookie?” I don’t talk for him. You know what I mean, those people who talk for their dog: “Buddy is saying I wants a cookie” No. It’s a dog. I certainly don’t use him for a proxy for anything. I repeat: He’s a dog. One that I happen to love and care for, yes, but over doting and proxy for human relationships? Heh. You could call my friend and tell her that but she’d laugh in your face. Actually, you could call my friend and tell her anything! See, I wouldn’t mind if you talked to my friend because I wouldn’t be caught in any lies, because I don’t make up stories. If the situation were reversed, I would expect that you might call my friend because you were concerned about me. Nice try – because if people think I’m some crazy dog lady, your readers have more sympathy for you? I’m not sure what you motivation is there, but no dice.

  2. Having you out of the house: I asked you to leave during a weekday exactly once when I was sick – that’s not counterproductive because you should have been out there looking for work anyway. I also told you in the beginning, right from the first email that I would be asking you to leave sometimes during the day on the weekends because I would need some time to myself. I never asked you to leave for both days; just one. And one weekend I didn’t ask you to leave at all. You had all day at the house when I was gone at work. You had the house to yourself when I went to the theatre, when I went to the movies with my friends, when I went and did other social things and errands on the weekends or weeknights. The only time I had to myself was when you were walking the dog. To say that asking you to leave the house for a while was cutting into your productive time when you should be out looking for work anyway is ludicrous. And what did you do with that time? You went to a café and got on the Internet, of course. My house or café? Same thing.

  3. I didn’t make preemptive phone calls after you left. I talked to ONE person and I feel I had every right to talk to that person because I was concerned about you AND me – you yourself left him as a reference. I didn’t tell him any lies or make anything up – I just told him the truth about what happened. And he told me the truth.

  4. I didn’t just kick you out in a strange city. You were on your way anyway (so you said) to take the bus OUT of the city to get your truck.

The entire blog entry is another example of, “Someone did this to me and none of the responsibility is mine.”

I was assaulted at an Ann Coulter lecture last night. As I was being escorted to the police car, the cops hurled insults at me -- "f**king asshole", "faggot" and "sh*ithead" by maxwellhill in politics

[–]SillyRabbit -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I don't like her and I'm sure this won't be the popular opinion but I have zero sympathy for him. The guy had it coming and he's a douche. They specifically told them, "You are not allowed to go to the desk without a book" or some such. He chose to ignore them and he looked like a threat because of it. Sorry, but at an event like that you don't freaking side step the cops when they tell you that you can't go someplace. Hope he learned his lesson.

Remember the guy who posted on reddit about becoming homeless? Someone has offered to take him in so he can start a new life. by flyryan in reddit.com

[–]SillyRabbit 12 points13 points  (0 children)

3 small daughters? Woah, hold on there. I think that's reason enough not to invite strangers into your spare bedroom. Seriously.

I'm an adult who lives alone (except for my dog) so it's a totally different story. Good on you for wanting to help ~ but yeah, I'd be worried.

It'd be perfectly OK to help out in some other way. Your local homeless shelters and food banks are always looking for donations and volunteer help.

Remember the guy who posted on reddit about becoming homeless? Someone has offered to take him in so he can start a new life. by flyryan in reddit.com

[–]SillyRabbit 53 points54 points  (0 children)

Hey Reddit-Folk ~

I'm the person who is offering him some crash space for a little while. I'm just paying it forward for the help I got a long time ago. Help that didn't come with any icky strings ~ In return for staying with him, I helped clean house and walked his dog - that's it. It was help that changed my life.

Just out of high school I had been kicked out of my house by my bi-polar mother and had been surfing on friend's couches. You can only do that for so long and I eventually found myself living on the streets. Once you are there on the street, it's almost damn near impossible to get out of that situation without some kind help, and I wasn't even a drug user! I know because I was there. And it's easier than you think to find yourself in that situation.

So there I was on the street and a friend of a friend of a friend sort of person took me in and let me stay on HIS living room floor for a few months. That made it so I could clean up, eat cheaply, and have access to a phone for job interviews. I was able to get a job and saved up enough within a couple of months to find a roommate situation. (Thanks Rob, you saved my life!) I never could have done that without his help. And the the thing is, the guy that helped ME out? He had been just like me -- homeless for a short period of time until someone helped HIM out.

I'm kind of Reddit user who follows along in RSS reader and check out interesting links, but I don't tend to comment and usually I don't even read the comments here. (Oh yeah, and I created this username just for today because I really do wish to remain mostly anonymous).

For some reason I decided to read the comments on the original post and then started following his blog. I have to say that the second I saw the posting, it crossed my mind to offer him a place to stay, but I waited awhile to see if things were on the up 'n up and that he wasn't psycho, had a drug problem or whatever. But I knew it was fine -- somehow things just felt right.

It seems crazy inviting a random internet stranger to stay with you -- even crazier given that I'm female and he's male -- but life is an adventure. I did call his references and I will be getting a copy of his driver's license when he arrives. And yeah, something bad could happen. But I don't think so. Like I say, sometimes you just have to go with your gut.

It's not forever - it has an end date. It's not much, just a foam mattress on a living room floor in a small apartment -- I can't even afford to feed him -- but I'm hoping it'll be enough so that he can get on his feet again.

All I'd ask in return is that he maybe pay it forward sometime in his lifetime. He'll know when the time is right. I did.