Low point of the day: Smarmy Campus Bureaucrat Dude entered my apartment without knocking. Since the house was rather hot (we’re still working on getting the hang of the ondol controls here, which are old-fashioned valves instead of digital controls like modern apartments have), I was at my computer in boxers and a t-shirt, typing away, while Lime was sprawled asleep on the bedroom floor.
Smarmy Campus Bureaucrat Dude didn’t even think to apologize for coming in without knocking until I pulled some clothes on and told him it was unacceptable to enter people’s homes without at least knocking or ringing the bell, and that this was indeed our home, and I’d appreciate it if he actually treated it that way. And when he apologized, he had his characteristic smarmy smile on his face which said, unmistakably, “I’m so totally not sorry, and I’ll do it again anytime I like, pal.” I wish I could say it was me misinterpreting him across a language/culture barrier, but Lime has met this individual before and classes him as the scum of the earth.
What’s worse, he had his key in hand, which means even if the door had been locked, he probably just would have entered without knocking. I suppose we’re supposed to just sit around at home expecting officials to burst in at any moment, huh? Heaven forbid someone take a nap, or happen to emerge from the shower at some random time when Smarmy Campus Bureaucrat Dude decides to barge in unannounced. Let alone couples having, ahem, a private moment. Lucky for him that wasn’t what he walked in on, or I’d be raising merry hell about his disrespectful behaviour.
(And, well, there’s more, including a case of “not my problem” so bad that the building I living in seems to be sustaining structural damage from it, but I won’t get into it except to say that I know better than to think telling someone off will have any effect unless you’re directly above him in the food chain, and that thank goodness the person above him has been notified of the building’s impending collapse. Personally, though, having my home entered at a random time by an unwelcome stranger for no apparent reason except to ask whether we’re “using” the (obviously vacated) apartment downstairs is bad enough to count as the low point of the day.)
High point of the day: I got my contributor’s copy of Tesseracts Twelve! I won’t be able to give the book more than a glance for a week or so, until exams and other work-related stuff is dealt with, but it was really great to see the book as a physical object, and my story there among the others. Yay!