I could not have predicted, however, the controversy that would ensue over our attempts to take advantage of what is turning out to be a less-than-meticulous curbside recycling program.
After yesterday's anonymous letter, we though that we would do our best to be good neighbors. After contacting CVWMA to arrange for them to pick up the recyclables that they missed yesterday, we moved our recycling down the sidewalk, to the spot adjacent to our alley, and across the street from another large pile of recycling that they missed. We moved it to the same spot where CVWMA picked up part of our recyclables yesterday--thinking if they would be certain to notice it this time.
As a side note, I should mention that we got an email from our landlord, a real friendly woman who lives across the street, who forwarded us an email from anonymous neighbor #1, who it turns out is our next door neighbor. She seems sweet enough--aside from the whole anonymous letter thing, they're probably just old folks who don't trust us young whippersnappers to keep the street around their house litter-free. I wish they did trust us, but hey, can't have everything.
Anyway, I come home to see that our recycling appears to have been picked up, as well as the other recyclables down the street that were left from yesterday. I think the situation has resolved itself, only to find this note, which Sean graciously stuck on the fridge:
Oh no! Another anonymous neighbor upset about the presence of our recyclables. He astutely notes that the sidewalk in front of 204 Mulberry is not our property. In the "not owned by the tenants of 2703 Hanover" sense, of course, but perhaps one could make an argument that, being a public right of way maintained by the City of Richmond, it might carry some metaphorical civic ownership, since we are all citizens of this great city and should look to all public right of ways with the same sense of responsibility that we owe our own, private property. I digress. My point is that I fear his misunderstanding of property law has led him to believe that he possesses an ownership interest in the public sidewalk in front of his house, which is presumably at 204 Mulberry. While he does have a legal duty to clear the sidewalk of snow or other hazards, that legal duty does not translate into an ownership interest, unless I'm misremembering the property/local government law I've studied over the years.
Unfortunately, he jumped to a number of conclusions that apparantly led him to react with much anger and frustation. Sadly, Central Virginia Waste Management made a trip all the way back over to Mulberry only to miss our admittedly substantial collection of recyclables, which had by that point been relegated to a dumpster somewhere, thanks to our neighbor.
I've crafted a very friendly letter to him, much less snarky than my admittedly over-the-top, asshole-ish reaction to anonymous note #1. I tried knocking on his door, but he didn't answer. I did speak to the woman who lives below him--I wish all of our neighbors were as friendly as her--who warned me that he is a curmudgeon and that she does her best to stay out of his way. Maybe I'll bake him some cookies to go along with my letter. Kill 'em with kindness...
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