The Falling Out

In a heated argument, we are apt to lose sight of the truth. --Publilius Syrus

How would you feel if your good friend put you in a really bad situation so he could pay his bills? Would you be understanding? For how long? What if they hadn't always been a very good friend to you? At what point do you value money over friendship? Is it always inexcusable, or does everyone have a breaking point?

My buddy, I'll call him Charleston Guy (CG), called me last night. We chatted for a bit when he asked me if I was speaking to the Landlord yet. The Landlord used to be one of my best friends.
Used to be.

About a year ago, my lease at my old apt was up, and he had a spare bedroom in his house. So I moved in, and he moved out (he took a job elsewhere). Although I had my reservations about mixing personal life with money, it was a great win-win situation. He needed the rent money from his tenants to pay his mortgage, and I wanted cable and DSL. For a while, it was just me and Athletic Girl, who is a great roommate. For a while, a really nice guy lived in the Landlord's room, but it was just temporary. I knew the Landlord was finding tenants for the third bedroom on the Internet, but so far it was working well. And I hoped he would pick good people. I was his friend, after all.

Then, one day Stupid Roommate came by to look at the place. I instantly hated this guy. (I will post about him later so no tangents for now). Now, I have a tendency to be very apprehensive and opinionated about certain...lifestyles. I was raised in a very WASPy home, and it took its toll. (Ok, ok, I can be a close-minded asshole. There, I said it.) But SR's lifestyle is the least of my problems. His annoying habits far far outweigh any personal activities in which he might partake. But that is beside the point. I figured that since the Landlord knew me pretty well he would know that I would more than likely have a problem with this guy and not rent to him. I didn't think Landlord would actually go through with it before asking if that would be ok. But he did.

Last month, Stupid Roommate moved in. And I have hated being at home ever since.

My response was along the lines of, "How can you value your bank account over your friendships? I would never do this to you. Then again, I wouldn't buy a house I couldn't afford and make my friends bear the brunt of my mistake." I'm not going to get into details about what was said, because it was pretty ugly. Ok, it was really ugly. There were some telephone hang-ups involved. And some yelling and personal insults. Yeah, that kind of ugly. Most of it coming from me.

Sidebar: This was not the only source of my beef with Landlord. A couple of times in the preceeding months, he had said some rather not-so-nice/insensitive things about my father being ill (my father passed away a few months after he said those things) and my mother, whom he has met once. I had gotten upset with him those times too. I eventually got over it, although I don't recall him ever apologizing. But I have a long memory when someone hurts me. So, I was already wary of Landlord's behavior/lack of sensitivity coming into this situation. I had some basic trust issues with Landlord going into this conversation about Stupid Roommate. This is sort of the straw that broke the camel's back.

So, no, I'm not on speaking terms with the Landlord. Do I feel bad about it? Not really. I still feel the same way, although I'm no longer in a rage about it. You could say I'd be open to talking to him, but not nearly ready to forgive and/or forget. And I haven't moved out, either, since I love my location and can't afford to live alone. But I'm getting really good at not being at home, which is kind of the same thing.