The most passive-aggressive tenant in the history of tenants
This email is kind of funny and is something my wife Sana and I had a good laugh over.
As I’ve mentioned before, I recently returned to Virginia Beach after a long stay living with Sana in Hanoi, Vietnam.
The place I’ve rented is a bit interesting. It’s technically on farm land but within the city, so it’s nice and open and quiet (except for those dang jets which are a part of life in this town.)
And the landlord isn’t the typical corporate automaton who can’t form an independent thought related to the terms by which a tenant lives, so there’s a bit of flexibility on things like rent, bartering services in exchange for rent, having a pet without “pet rent”, etc.
It’s not exactly where I envision us living out our days on this earth, but it’s decent and will do for the time being.
Well the landlord Terry has his hands full taking care of a bunch of buildings on the property, not to mention running a construction business. So when he says he’ll get to something “eventually” he means it. There’s not an exact timeframe by which one can expect, say the new a/c unit to be installed while it’s still summer in Virginia. It’s not a huge deal as most things do get taken care of in a reasonable amount of time.
But it’s that which gave Sana and I our grand idea. Our idea is to have Terry subscribe to this email newsletter, and then send our complaints about the place via the newsletter.
So for example, if we want the a/c fixed sooner than later, I sent out an email to this list saying something like, “Man, I wish my landlord could get his act together; I’m dying over here.” Or, “You know, I really wish I could have a dog,” and then make an infotaining story about dogs.
That’s about as passive-aggressive, tacky, distasteful, etc. etc. as you can get. And what’s funny is that both Sana and I are about the most unpassive-aggressive people you’ll ever meet. Neither of us are known for saying much without intention, and we don’t beat around the bush when we speak. Makes for interesting dinner conversation, I’ll tell you that.
It’s one of the things that makes me grateful to be in the business I’m in. If you do a podcast, you don’t have much time to mince words. One cannot remain timid for long if they’re to be successful in this line of work. I’m sure y’all reading this can say the same, whether your business is podcasting, music, writing, what have you.
It’s why I love working with people like that as a coach. I haven’t done a whole lot of that thus far, but I’m making plans to expand the palate of services offered by my humble business, coaching being one of them.
I don’t even have a landing page setup for any type of coaching services, but if you want to setup a time to talk through some things related to business, relationships, or life in general, just reply to this email and let’s talk. At this point I’ll say it won’t cost you much; it’s something I’m offering only to my email subscribers before I even mention it on any of the podcasts or websites I host.
So just reply, let me know what’s on your mind, and we’ll see what we can work out!
Be well,
James Newcomb