Hel-LO? You’re deaf. You and hubby (I presume) mostly sign, rather than talk or yell, right? I mean, I’m assuming that you’re probably a lot QUIETER than the average apartment renting couple is. Is that such a stretch to believe?

I have this twisted theory, based on my old experience with a blind suitemate in college, and it’s that, when you’d think a challenge, a handicap, whatEVER, would maybe make people bump things up a notch in making life EASIER for you (or at least not any harder for them), in a stunner surprise twist (at least for me)–they often tend to do the exact opposite!

This blind suitemate friend, Judi, she was just brilliant! She couldn’t read her textbooks, of course (and she didn’t read Braille–not that they even had our textbooks in Braille, but that’s another story!–so she had student readers read her each chapter of them. Well, if she heard it once, it was hers forever, and with (IMHO), the existing prejudices, that was part of her downfall. She was actually accused of PLAGIARISM there, when no one else (that I know of) ever was.

Just THINK ABOUT THAT for a minute–plagiarism?!? Give me a freakin’ break!!! I’m quite sure that her financial aid didn’t include her having her readers read everything TWICE to her to check everything ex post facto. She was just so brilliant when she heard it the first time that maybe she could repeat snippets of it verbatim later into her paper (culling all those needles from the sacks that we had to read), yet she and only she was totally forked for it, if you don’t mind my saying so!

I once wrote an essay on how hard she had it when you’d think she might have had it just a little easier, considering. But NO! (I’d kill to find that essay now, of course, but I can’t). She had a guide dog, “Gordie,” and let me tell you, Gordie was the BMOC, and everyone called his name, yet no one ever seemed to know Judi’s. Go figure.

One time, she had to go downtown to the bank, and I was her “Gordie,” (which was good, because he had a serious squirrel-chasing issue at the time), so we walked in the door together, arm in arm, toward the teller. Well, let me just say, that I’ve NEVER experienced a teller or ANY service person be so freakin’ RUDE to me (and her) in my LIFE! (Yet she probably experienced that every day, if not every week! Honestly, I don’t know how she did it!) I have no clue exactly what happened there. I can only assume that the teller thought we were lesbians or something. (Not that that should have been a problem, but you never know!) All I know is, I’ve just never experienced anything like that! EVER. Yet she put up with it almost daily!

I mean, wouldn’t you think that, considering she was legally blind, that people would TRY to make her life EASIER than ours? Or at least AS easy? Yet, they do the opposite! What’s up with that? And what possesses their small and twisted minds whenever they do so?!?

There were other things. Really bad ones. Really good ones. I’ll keep this story shorter. She had a regular BF and they used to ride tandem bikes together, which she loved. (He steered.) Once, I took her to the local mall when the parking lot was almost empty and I let her drive my car, which she’d always wanted to do, but she’d never had the chance. (SHE steered, with my directions.) When the cops showed up nearby, we stopped and did a really quick seat-switching job and no one was ever any the wiser! No problema! (Um, don’t tell my parents. Technically, it was probably THEIR car, but she never got a ding in it!)

People would just cringe right after they’d ask her the simplest things, like, “Oh, did you see the latest movie?” She would reply that there was no need to change the entire English language just on her account. And yes, she “saw” that one, but she really wanted to “see” this next one, based on the previews.”

She was absolutely human. (Duh!) I just wish others, including some of the rare idiot administrators at our school who had accused her of plagiarism, had bothered to figure that out and had acted accordingly. If the whole “plagiarism” thing weren’t so enormously sad and unfair, I’d be (and I’m sure she’d be) ROFLOAO!

Anyway, I know this isn’t your deal, exactly, but I just had to put this out and see whether you could somehow identify. Maybe even plant the seed that your supposedly running up and down the stairs making so much noise at 2 a.m. may not just be in YOUR heads when it’s probably in ignorant other heads instead. Take from this whatever you will. And if anything clicks with you, then know this too:

http://www.eeoc.gov/types/ada.html

If you want an attorney referral re: that, I have a great one (my ex-roomie) for you. She’s an ALJ who specializes in that subject, but she’s in WV/V and not here. That would probably not an issue if it ever comes to that, though. Heh! Oh, your poor landlord!

Don’t let the b-tards get you down!

I almost had the same issue happen to me a few months after I moved in. We were just warned that if we got one more complaint then we would not be able to renew, that was it. The guy that kept reporting us always called directly to our landlord, then the third and last time, we got a letter which included a complaint about “some deaf girl that talks at ungodly hours but do not understand why she talks if shes deaf” (totally offensive) plus a party that was going on. Um wow ok?? And recently Sean got a written letter, probably from him, on the entrance door about turning down gaming noises so it’s better that way.

One thing you can try is to ask who is complaining and see if you can talk to that person about what the deal is and what is bugging them exactly. Maybe your bedroom is right next to theirs, or maybe Tyler is being weirder in his sleep than you thought, like talking all night, lol I don’t know. But maybe if your landlord sees that you make that effort (just for a few more months) then they’ll just give you one last warning

hope it all goes well

If you still have to move out, two things to do…
#1, talk with the management, and use the deaf card “I will never know how loud I am or whatever I’m doing.” Try to have them to put something else, other than “evicted” on your record (that won’t go away for the next 7 years.)

#2 Give your neighbors the true definition of “being too loud” while you’re moving out ::grins:: Bring friends, beers, laughter, thumping, stomping around. Heh. Revenge is SWEET!

If they won’t budge on the termination ask if they’ll at least give you more time.