So there is this older Asian man who is constantly walking on the greenway in front of our house. I mean, we see him all the time. He walks really slowly and, in general, just appears to be really nosy, always stopping to watch what other people are doing. I've seen him walk across the road and stand in our driveway looking at the house before, but he's always gone by the time I can get out there to ask him to leave. The framers told Ben that the guy frequently comes all the way in the house and watches them work during the day while we're at work. This, of course, drives me absolutely nuts because I can't believe people think it's okay to just hang out on other people's property and IN THEIR HOUSE just because construction is going on.
Anyway, this afternoon we're in the house talking about some questions our contractor had, and I see the guy coming up onto the porch. I meet him at the door and say, "Hello, can I help you?" He shakes his head no. Umm, okay. "This is my house." Another head shake. Yeah, buddy, I'm pretty sure it really is my house. "I would like you to leave. We don't want people in our house." Another head shake, and he attempts to walk around me. Okay, now we really have a problem.
Obviously, he does not speak-a de English, and my body language is not strong enough. So I block the door with my body, point to the road, and say, "Please leave. I do not want you in my house." Another head shake, and he just stands there. So I turn my back to him and continue standing in the doorway, thinking that I do not want to hurt this old man, but I am about to have to physically remove him from my property. He walks over to a window and starts peering in. Umm, no. "SIR - YOU ARE GOING TO HAVE TO LEAVE." Apparently I'm one of those people who, when someone doesn't speak my language, I just talk louder. I try to temper this because it really annoys me when other people do it (they say the faults you notice most in others are your own biggest faults - maybe true), but I'm getting frustrated and angry, which doesn't help.
I continue pointing to the road and telling him to leave, using different phrases ("Go," "Out," etc.) in the hopes that he might recognize one. He continues shaking his head no. One of the super-nice HVAC guys comes up and says, "Are you okay, ma'am? You got this?" Yes, of course I've got this. I appreciate your concern, but this guy appears to be harmless. I just DON'T WANT HIM ON MY PROPERTY.
I don't know if the guy finally got the message or if he just got tired of me blocking the door (he seriously acted like he was going to push around me the entire time, and if that had happened this would be a very different story), but he finally turned around and walked back out to the greenway. The HVAC guy said that he was here yesterday and just walked up into the house and watched them work (much like he had done a few times with the framers). The HVAC guy said at first that they thought he was a foreman or something because he just stood there watching, but they tried to talk to him and all he would do was nod at them (that's sounding familiar). So on top of the whole trespassing issue, he's there in the way while people are trying to work on the house. I don't know if this is acceptable in whatever culture he comes from, but I assume I would not be welcome to come around his house, peer in his windows, and try to push past him in the doorway.
I really hope I got my message across and he stays out of here from now on. I hate to be mean to people (well, unless the people are being mean to me or my loved ones - and this guy's not necessarily mean; he's just an idiot, apparently), and I made every attempt to tell him politely, but firmly, that he is not welcome on our property. The language barrier sucks, but that's really not my problem, considering that he's trespassing on my property, and I have declared English as the official language of this property. Apparently my "trying to politely ask you to leave my property" body language is insufficient to convey the gravity of the situation and I had to resort to talking quite loudly (I'm not going to call it "yelling," but it was just a step below that) and adopting a more threatening posture. I honestly don't know what I could have done other than be an asshole, as I tried the polite route and failed. But I still feel bad, and that pisses me off even more. Why do I feel bad that this jerk can't respect my private property? Ugh.
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