Tonight after I finished with the gym I entered my building, closely followed by another tenant. He was young, probably in his early twenties, and upon seeing me his face lit up as if he had just had the most brilliant idea pop into his head. I fumbled around for my keys but wasn't quick enough to prevent the show.
"Have you heard of the Incredible Hulk?" he said with a smile.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Have you heard of the Incredible Hulk?" he repeated.
"The Incredible Hulk? Yes."
He then proceeded to forcefully yank the door open without the use of the front entrance key. The door popped open with a loud click. Clearly it wasn't made to do that. He seemed proud of his latest feat and was surprised, I'm sure, by my response.
"You shouldn't do that. That breaks the door. That's why the super won't fix this place up. It's because people keep breaking things."
He was silent as I continued on. He looked at me with wide, vulnerable eyes as I proceeded to kindly "berate" him for damaging property and essentially contributing to the dilapidated state of the building. I think he was dumbfounded, to tell you the truth. His plan to wow me or come to my rescue completely backfired. When I could see that he was finally starting to make the connection between his actions and the effect that it has on the rest of us living here, I started to ease up on him. I ended the conversation civilly and then casually and got off the elevator.
Who knows if my calling him out will have a lasting effect on him. I hope it does. Or it may just mean that there is yet another person that I should avoid in this crappy building, but oh well. I'm glad that I said something. Hopefully the next time he wants to make an impression on a girl he won't try to use vandalism as a means to do so. Because...that don't impress me much.
2 comments:
That is so funny! I would have done the same. Bruce has incredible hulk gloves that are huge and you can borrow them if you'd like...
Good for you!
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