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Am I the Jerk? — Psycho Landlord REFUSES to give us WORKING FIRE ALARMS. Machine-transcribed; use the interactive transcript above to jump the player to any line.
My psycho landlord refuses to change the fire alarms in his property that I'm renting from him, claiming that it's our responsibility and not his. But after trying to explain to him that no, legally he is responsible for this, he tried to call what he thought was our bluff by calling the fire marshal, resulting in my crazy landlord getting scared straight in a way that I can only imagine. Here's how it all went down. Okay, so this happened a few years ago in my last apartment. My roommate and I were living in a basement place with upstairs neighbors, and the owner decided he wanted to sell. The upstairs neighbors ended up buying it and became our new landlords, and trust me when I say this, they were all flooded. I could fill a whole post with the amount of stuff they tried to get away with, but we're here to talk about one particular instance that really stood out. But suffice to say, they had no idea that the landlords had responsibilities, and they simply saw us tenants as a source of income that should be ever growing, hence our rent suddenly spiking and why we left. But there's one time where they literally maliciously compliance themselves. You see, they had a habit of trying to push stuff on us that was blatantly illegal. Their first contract, for example, said among other things,
that they had the right to enter the apartment at any time that they wanted to, and could go through our stuff if they wished to, because we were living in their property. Well, I pointed out that this was highly illegal, and they grouped very upset, saying, well, we'll see about that. And this clause later suddenly became the real one before we signed. One day, however, our loan fire alarm system suddenly stopped working. As beautiful tenants, we reached out and we said, Hey, the fire alarm stopped working. And you know what, their response was rather predictable. They said to us, so what? I replied by saying, well, we need to have a working fire alarm, and it's the landlord's duty to provide working fire alarms. They then literally said, well, no, it's not. If you want one, you need to get one. But I reminded them and said, no, the law says otherwise. And here's where they maliciously compliance themselves, which is possibly because they were getting tired of being corrected, and they ended up getting really snooty with this one. We got a very sarcastic response of them saying, Oh, it does does it. Well, we'll just see what the fire marshals have to say about that. Well, me and my roommate upon receiving this message, both of us just burst out laughing. But they were serious. They thought they were going to contact the fire marshal.
He was going to sign with them. And then they could come down on us really hard. But when we said, okay, yeah, go ahead and do that. I honestly wonder what their expressions were when they started this process. However, the next morning, there was frantic knocking at the door. When I opened up, there's the landlord and his family, looking very concerned. With a bag of brand new fire alarms with one for each room and even two spares just in case. He then bags to be let in outside of the 24 hour notice and says it's an emergency. He looks at us and says, we have to put up the alarms right now. Well, trying not to laugh, we let them in. And they hurriedly put one in every single room, apologizing profusely for the delay, and telling us that if we need anything, don't hesitate to ask. Now, I really don't know how the meeting with a fire marshal went, or if they got him or someone else at their office, but their attitude painted a pretty clear picture of the ultimate result, because they literally burnt themselves thinking that they would call our bluff, resulting in probably one of the most panic situations they've ever been in in their entire life. Okay, this is one of the worst landlord situations I've heard of in a long time. Imagine being so corrupt that you're like, oh, you want fire alarms?
That's your problem, not ours. If you want one, you've got to get one. It's like, dude, what are you doing? You really don't care about the people running from you, do you? Like, holy crap, why are people like this, dude? You would think there would be some kind of like, oh, I don't know, hey, you're staying in my place, so I'm gonna take care of you kind of like mentality, or at least some semblance of mutual respect between landlord and tenant, like, oh my gosh. Like, the original poster didn't do anything wrong, they're just like, hey, the fire alarms aren't working, I kind of want to live and not die, can you get some for me? That'd be great. And you know for a fact, they suck as people, and they've definitely never been a landlord before, because anyone in the right mind would be like, oh my gosh, the fire alarm's not working, the thing that keeps me from being sued is not working. Oh boy, let me fix that real quick. So I love the way the original poster handled this. They literally sat back and was like, okay, let's see how this plays out, because this landlord is super corrupt, and the fact that they tried this on you, in my opinion, is absolutely insane. If you like Am I the jerk, you're probably going to love Am I the Genius. Check it out, link down below in the description. Also, go to Am I the jerk.com, slash Submit.
If you would like to submit your own stories. Am I the jerk for taking my boyfriend to a birthday dinner, at a restaurant that is literally across a street from my sister's apartment? Because after she found out that we didn't invite her, she freaked out on me just like she does any other time I do something without her. And at this point, I'm not sure if I made a mistake and I just don't know what to do. Here's how it all went down. Okay, so my sister and I live in neighborhoods that are about 15 minutes apart. Heres has way more options for restaurants and has a really cute movie theater. Ever since she's moved in, which was after I moved into my neighborhood, she has said that I shouldn't go over to her neighborhood to do anything without her. For example, like if I went to the movies there with my boyfriend, she thinks I should pick a different movie theater even if it's more crowded or further away. Now, I really try to be inclusive of her and balance time and activities with her versus with my boyfriend, or if all of us are out together. I mean, there was even a really cute wine bar by her that I avoided taking my boyfriend to. Even though I knew he would love it, simply because I knew my sister would be super upset if I went there first without her. Anyways, we haven't seen eye to eye on this issue.
And now she's mad because last night, my boyfriend got off of work early and his sister had sent me money asking me to take him out and to treat the both of us to dinner for his birthday. For reference, she lives in another state so she couldn't do so herself in person. It was very last minute and my boyfriend wanted spicy food so he suggested a Thai food place right next to my sister's apartment. Now, I knew that she would be upset if we went and didn't tell her, especially if she walked by and saw us there. So, I texted her to give her a heads up that we'd be in the area, but I still didn't invite her. I did say though that we could stop by afterwards and say hi, or maybe say hi when she went to take her dogs out for their nightly walk. Well, she just ignored my messages for hours and then later that night, she said that she hopes we had fun, but according to her, she said it sucks that you went right to a restaurant that is literally right across the street from my apartment all without me. So seriously, with all things considered and either jerk in this situation, because right now I honestly don't know what to do. Okay, no, you are not the jerk here. Your sister can't gatekeep the entire neighborhood that she lives in. Like, why on earth is she acting like that?
That's so stupid. Because in my opinion, this is some crazy behavior that absolutely should not be validated. So no, you're definitely not the jerk. And in my opinion, I would absolutely be going anywhere I want, even if it's in her neighborhood, because she literally has no say in what you can or cannot do. An entitled Karen driving a Tesla literally thought she could drive down the wrong side of the street and block the bike path that I was clearly traveling on. So I decided to get some petty revenge by blocking her path and making her back up, which honestly really blew my mind because this entire situation was so unnecessary. Here's how it all went down. Okay, so as I'm coming up to an intersection and turn right in my fairly large cargo bike, I'm met by the front of a Tesla who thought that one way for cars also applied for bicycles. She must have been in a hurry because she tried to get all the way up to the line despite a group of about five cyclists waiting for the green light in front of her. Unfortunately for her, this particular street is a bicycle street with cars being allowed to drive in only one direction. She's left barely enough room between her car and the sidewalk for a normal bike to even shimmy past. But my cargo bike is about a meter wide.
So anyways, I stop right in front of her and I tell her to get out of my way. She somehow feels entitled enough to have the audacity to tell me to back up, but I tell her to kick rocks and back up and to stay in her own lane. Finally, she backs up about a meter, not enough to actually drive around me, so I just move my bike forward and I tell her to go back to her own lane. And yes, this is where I wish I'd remembered my favorite insult to drivers, asking if they'd gotten their driver's license at Legoland. Finally, she gives up and backs up enough that I don't have to move around her. She gives me the finger which I happily reciprocated and then I go about my day. And while I didn't look back, I hope that I managed to time it in such a way so that she would be stuck at a red light again, because this entitled Karen absolutely deserved it. Okay, imagine being on the wrong side of the street and acting like this. Like, dude, you're clearly in the wrong and you absolutely need to get out of the way. And I'm not surprised that it's a Tesla owner that did this because holy crap. They've become that kind of car that act like this and it's so weird like what's going on right now. Please tell me that not all Tesla owners act like this when they're driving because I've seen a lot of stories like this
and this is kind of concerning. So yeah, I love the way the original poster handled this. I don't know if I would have the bravery to do that because I know for a fact that would be very nervous in this situation. My brother allowed his girlfriend to enter our house without warning me first. As she literally came out of nowhere and went into her bathroom to take a shower and now as a result, I am very pissed off in my brother because I feel like this is a massive invasion of privacy and very inappropriate. And I'm honestly right now not sure what to do. Here's what's going on. To start things out, I ran a two bedroom house with my brother and this all started when he allowed a girl who I'd never met at the time spend the night and this girl would later become his girlfriend. He went to work the next day and left her in his room by himself all the way until she eventually woke up and left on her own. He did call me to let me know and I didn't think it was much of a problem. I am a single guy and I know what it's like but then he started doing it more and more often and at the time I was kind of assuming like, okay, this is his girlfriend or something like that. Now this wouldn't really bother me as much because literally I wouldn't see her. She would just wake up and walk out and I would know that she was there because I would see her car. But today I woke up and I honestly thought I was home alone.
I was listening to music, I was dancing around the house and then she suddenly walks in without warning and goes straight to his room without saying anything. Then she goes in our restroom and takes a shower. It was super uncomfortable and really pissed me off. I sent him a text immediately and I told him that I didn't like that crap. He said that it was a one time thing because her car was at the dealership nearby and she apparently needed to take a shower before going to work. She stayed for about two hours but after she left, I wasn't as mad anymore and I felt a little bit guilty. I've had a pretty solid relationship with my brother so far and I'm just hoping I didn't overreact since I am single and I may not understand what it's like to need a place to spend time with your girlfriend. So seriously, am I being petty here or was this like a good reason to complain? Because right now I'm not sure if I'm in the wrong. Okay, maybe I have like a polarizing opinion here but no, I don't think you overreacted. I don't really care who you are. If you're walking into my house, you better live there. Because if you don't, this is an absolutely big red flag. She doesn't live there, she doesn't rent from you guys. She is literally just your brother's girlfriend. So for her to walk in and be like, oh don't worry, I'm just gonna use the shower.
Like that seems really inappropriate in my opinion and just completely over the line. It's not like she's gotten to know you or done anything like that. It's not like you guys hang out all the time so it's like, oh that's such and such, they're totally fine, they can come in. Like no, this is super uncomfortable and not okay in my opinion. Now I will say it kind of seems like your brother's like, oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, this is a one time thing. And hopefully there's some kind of like conversation that could be happening because of this situation. But if not, then this is like really messed up in super toxic, in my opinion. So no, I don't think you overreacted because this is really an invasion of privacy that you do not deserve. Especially if she's gonna walk in, unannounced and take a shower. Like I think that's really weird and completely uncalled for. Am I the jerk for walking out of my sister's wedding reception? After she literally thanked everybody else in her wedding party except for me. Because despite the fact that I literally did everything for her leading up to this event, she's still decided to be disrespectful to me and even laugh at someone who said, I'm her unpaid wedding planner. And as a result, this has put me in a really weird situation with my family and I just don't know what to do. Here's what's happening. Okay, so my sister just got married last weekend. I was not only a bridesmaid, but also,
I spent months helping her plan. Literally running errands for her, putting deposits down when she was way too busy to do it herself, even covering a couple of her bills when she went over budget. Well, fast forward and the actual wedding day comes along. And during the reception, she gives a big thank you speech. She says, I want to thank everyone who made this day possible. She names her husband, her parents, their friends, even a distant cousin who showed up the week before to fold the napkins. But not once during her speech did she ever mention me. I let it go until later when someone joked about how I was basically her unpaid wedding planner. My sister then laughed and said, well, yeah, but that's what sisters are for. At that point, I felt humiliated and completely unappreciated. So I quietly grabbed my stuff and I left before dessert was even served. And now my family's blowing up my phone, saying that I ruined her night and made it all about me. And my sister is even saying that I'm jealous and petty. I feel like I was treated like free labor and then dismissed like I didn't matter. So am I the jerk for walking out of her reception? Because right now, I just don't know what to do. Okay, honestly, with all things considered,
no, you're not the jerk. This was such a rude thing for her to do. And in my opinion, this better be the final straw. Like, if she ever needs help with anything in the future, like a baby shower or like any kind of celebration, she better not ask you for anything and you better not agree to it. Because you know for a fact she's not going to thank you and she's not going to appreciate the hard work you put in. Because let's look at the facts for a second. You did all this work for her and then what she's doing this big thank you speech, she doesn't even mention you. And she even later tries to justify by being like, oh yeah, that's my sister, that doesn't count. Like, that's basically what she was saying. So no, with all things considered, you're definitely not the jerk. Her attitude and the way she treated you was completely unfair. And if I was in your shoes, I absolutely would have walked out as well. Because this is completely unacceptable. I'm planning on moving in with my long distance boyfriend, but my parents are super against it. And they're now acting like I'm ruining my life. And at this point, I just don't know what to do. Here's what's going on. Okay, so as the title suggests, I'm planning on moving in with my boyfriend of two years next month, who also lives a five hour drive away. We've been planning, budgeting, communicating for the past couple of months.
And last week, I thought was the right time to let my parents know. I knew it'd be bad and I knew there would be pushback. But I'm not sure if I can handle it anymore. My parents rely on me like crazy ever since I was a kid. My siblings and I make jokes that I raise them and they have their personalities because of me. I work full-time and I'm a full-time student. But I still take care of our family dogs. I go to the supermarket for my mom weekly. And I'm doing chores all throughout the week. Now, I don't mind because I do live rent-free. But I am at a point where I've saved enough money that I can move out. My boyfriend also wasn't allowed to stay with us when he comes visit until last month. And when he comes, he's only allowed to stay in our garage. Which is like my dad's man cave that has a bunch of couches. But the couches are so uncomfortable to sleep on that I feel horrible. And there's no bathroom in there, so he has to use the bathroom in the shed at night. Which is really ridiculous. And on top of that, anytime I go to visit him, it's always a huge issue. And I cannot go for more than two days because I'm not allowed to treat the house like it's a hotel. And apparently it's disrespectful that their daughter is visiting her boyfriend because they think it's his job to do the visiting.
My parents are super against living together before marriage. And they've made that known with me and all of my siblings. Well, when I told my parents my mom sobbed, saying that she can't believe she raised me not to respect and value myself enough to at least get engaged before moving in together. They think we're rushing into things and making a stupid rash decision that we will regret. I try to explain to them that we will get married once we get a feel for how we live together. But right now, just isn't the time. Now they're saying that we should compromise. And my boyfriend should buy me a cheap ring and can get me a nicer one later on. But it's like why would we get engaged just to please them? Like that's just so ridiculous. Then they complained that they haven't even met his parents yet, which is totally valid. So to make it right, they met this weekend. And they said it went well and they like his family, so I thought we were going on the right track. But still, it isn't enough. Now, yesterday, my mom cried and said to me that she cannot believe I have such little respect for myself to live with my boyfriend before we're engaged. I tried explaining that I'm ready to move out and I need my space and independence. And I need to focus on school
and I'm also ready to get a good job. But nothing I say is good enough. Every day, it has been a new argument and I'm just exhausted. My dad said that I need to just get engaged and keep my mom happy. Because if not, I cannot count on them anymore. It's just so upsetting because I love my parents. But I'm tired of living my life to please them. What should I do? Okay, honestly, your parents need to understand that you literally are an adult and you could do whatever you want. Like for reference, the original poster is 23 years old and they have every right to like move out if they want to. It's also super weird that these people are like, oh, you need to compromise and get engaged first. But it's like, no, the original poster doesn't have to do that. They're an adult and they can make their own decisions if they want to. Like, what's going on right now? So yeah, I think your parents are overstepping and they're really getting in the way of something that literally is none of their business. And chances are they don't want you to move out because you do everything around the house. Which means they would have to step up and actually do something for once instead of relying on you to get it done. And that, in my opinion, is probably the real reason they want you sticking around. And I the jerk for telling my mother-law that she is no longer allowed to visit us after she literally went through our trash without our permission.
Because right now, my wife is pissed off at me as she's caught in the middle of this, saying that her mom was just overly involved in that she really does care about us. But right now, I'm pissed off and I refuse to apologize. Here's what's going on. Okay, so my mother-in-law has always been a lot. She means well, but she has no sense of boundaries. She lives 10 minutes away and used to stop by unannounced constantly until my wife and I put our foot down. The final straw though happened last week. We have been trying to start a family and have been going through fertility treatments as a result of that. It's been an emotional and private journey. We had a negative result from our last round, which was completely devastating. I clean out the bathroom cabinet where we kept the tests, and some other medical supplies and threw it all in the kitchen trash before taking the bag out to the curb. Well, the next day, my mother-in-law showed up at our door crying. She held up the used pregnancy test and a box of fertility drugs from the trash and demanded to know why we didn't tell her we were trying, why it failed, and what was wrong with us. When I saw this, I was furious. I told her that going through our trash was a massive violation of privacy and that our medical journey was none of her business.
She said she was just helping take out the trash and couldn't help but notice. I then lost my temper and I told her that she was no longer welcome at her home until she could learn to respect basic boundaries. And now as a result of that, my wife is caught in the middle. She agrees her mom was wrong, but thinks my reaction was too harsh, and that I should apologize for yelling. She says her mom is just overly involved because she cares, but I refuse to apologize. So am I the jerk in the situation because right now I just don't know what to do and I'm still really pissed off. Dude, there's no way in the world this is even justifiable like what is going on right now. You really mean to tell me that the original poster's wife is justifying these actions. Like dude, what are you talking about? She dug through your trash, man. Like what is going on right now? And who knows how long she's been doing that? Like I simply can't imagine someone doing that out of nowhere unless they've been doing that already. And plus you have to go to a really weird place to start digging through someone's garbage just to try and find some kind of secrets on them. Like that is so weird and intrusive. So no, you did the right thing by banning her from your house and honestly the fact that your wife is justifying this is so dumb because what your mother-in-law did is completely unacceptable.
My girlfriend is demanding that I help pay for her Uber rides to work every single month. But even though the bus would be a much cheaper option, she's still demanding that I spend the hundreds of dollars every single month just so that she can take an Uber ride instead of going on the bus. And at this point, I just don't know what to do. Here's what's going on. Okay, so I'm having an issue with my girlfriend and I really need some advice. And for context, we've been dating for about 11 months. Last Wednesday, she started a new job that is about 25 minutes away from her house. However, she does not have a car and I worked Monday through Friday. So I'm not able to take her even if I wanted to. But with that in mind, I offered to pay for her Uber's. However, I was not aware what the cost would really be. Yesterday, I checked my bank account and I saw that in one week, I had spent $340 on Uber rides. I could not believe it. I mean, that is insane. So last night, I had a conversation regarding this with her. I told her that I was looking over my spending and I saw that I'd spent $340 on Uber's. I told her that I can't do that because I'm literally just throwing money into the trash. I also have a car to pay for
and car insurance along with other expenses. If I paid for her Uber's, it would nearly be over $1,000 a month. She then asked me if we could split it, but I did the math and it would still be around $320 a month for me. So I told her that it's not smart for me or for her to be throwing our money away like that. I then told her that the best option would be for her to take the bus. A bus pass is literally $30 a month and I checked the route that she would take and she would only have to take one bus. It would take an hour for her to get to her work which means she would have to wake up earlier but sometimes sacrifices have to be made. She said that would not be an option because she knows she would not wake up on time. She feels like she would be getting no sleep since she'd have to wake up earlier. But I told her that is an option and there's always an option available. It's just a matter of wanting to actually do it or not. In the end she said she does not want to take the bus for those reasons but what really bothered me was when she said, oh well just don't help me then. I will figure it out on my own and she said it in a tone that made me feel really guilty for not wanting to help with her uber rides and you know what? As her boyfriend I do feel guilty but I also don't want to be throwing my money away like that.
I feel like whatever I decide to do whether to help her or not, I just come out losing. What should I do? Holy crap, your girlfriend is immature and she's seriously going to be like I'm not writing the bus for $30 a month. I would rather spend hundreds of dollars on a uber ride every month. Thank you very much. Like my god, what are we doing right now? It is so stupid that she was act like that that is such a waste of money and I've got to be honest, the fact that she only has to take one bus to get to work is honestly like a godsend. On top of that it's only $30 a month. She's going to be saving all the money she would be blowing on uber rides to then try and invest in a car that she can drive. And I've got to be honest, I only ever use uber when it's like oh man I'm desperate and I'm stuck at the airport. I guess I'll use uber and pray that it's not some weirdo. Like that's the only time I'm ever using uber. Otherwise it's just too expensive. Like holy crap, over $1,000 in a month just for her to get to work. Like I'm sorry, I'm not paying for that. So truly I don't think you're the wrong and I think your girlfriend is being completely unreasonable here. Because what she's demanding and making you feel guilty about is completely unnecessary. When you subscribe, make sure to hit the bell to turn on notifications.
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