On the Origins of Legalism by Means of Asymmetrical Information
So, my ceiling is leaking in the face of rather tame rain. And not just one quaint little isolated drip per minute, either -- which is what it was the last time this happened, and I mentioned it to the derelict gits downstairs.
It's a shame that it waited to start dripping until they were closed for the day (NB: I live above a store); then I could have dragged someone up here and tactfully gestured at the problem. I would have relished that. In light of the fact that the roof over my head is arguably the essence of what I'm paying them for, now I have to go downstairs on Monday and say "fix this now in compliance with tenant law plz". I can't relish this: I resent expressions of power (naked or veiled) and consider them a dubious tool to be dragged out only in extremis, but what else can one do in such situations?
It's a shame that it waited to start dripping until they were closed for the day (NB: I live above a store); then I could have dragged someone up here and tactfully gestured at the problem. I would have relished that. In light of the fact that the roof over my head is arguably the essence of what I'm paying them for, now I have to go downstairs on Monday and say "fix this now in compliance with tenant law plz". I can't relish this: I resent expressions of power (naked or veiled) and consider them a dubious tool to be dragged out only in extremis, but what else can one do in such situations?