Head First into a Wall

So I live on the ground floor of a duplex in the gay village of Montreal. The main reason for getting this place is a huge backyard. Unfortunately when Bud and I moved in last year, the yard was a jungle of weeds. Some were literally (I am not exaggerating in the slightest) taller than me a 6’2”. It was horrendous. Along with all the weeds, there was garbage, pieces of old buildings and just a general wasteland littered all over the place.

Bud and I (well, okay, Bud basically did everything) cleared out the yard until only dirt was left. Since we don’t own the place, we didn’t want to put in sod, so we bought seed and planted the grass. Came up well. Bud then planted about a hundred bulbs to come up this spring.

Now one side of the yard is a brick wall that is the back of a bar located on a street perpendicular to ours. On this wall there is a fire exit. Now this is the only fire exit for this bar. The bar is permitted to use this exit out of the courtesy of the landlord. There is nothing on the land registry that gives them this right and if our landlord wanted to seal it up, he could. This would effectively close the bar down.



Well, over the past year, people in the bar have been using that door. First it was coming in the yard unbeknownst to us, but this spring they proceeded to destroy a lot of Bud’s tulips. Of course we were furious. Spoke to the landlord and I asked that he instruct the owner of the bar to either put a bar on that door that would set off the fire alarm if opened or else we would seal it off. And then the bar would have to close since they do not have an emergency exit.

Look, I have no problem with people destroying the yard if there is a fire. Of course not, but when someone extends the courtesy to have this in place, you don’t go about abusing it. And that is just what happened. Last week, I got a call from Bud at work. The bar owner and the property owner were in the yard as Bud was reseeding the lawn. Bud told them to leave and they proceeded to claim that we had to keep the door area clear and that they were entitled to use it.

Bud put the owner of the property on the phone with me, and I proceeded to explain to him that he had no right but that this was just a courtesy to them and that while we had been very patient, this was now getting ridiculous. He thought he had a right, so I told him to verify with his own lawyer, since as a lawyer myself, I had checked on this. He accepted it and signed off.

A couple of moments later Bud calls back. The owner of the bar (with whom I did not speak), on his way bar into his bar, tore up more of the flowers and then started to rip out the flower beds themselves. I was flabbergasted. I had just explained that I could have them shut down and he wants to antagonize me? I just don’t get it – oh the Quebecois sometimes live their lives as if they are the only people who exist and we are just bit players in their grandiose tales. So I told Bud to call the police.

The police came by and said they would speak with the bar. The next day the police returned. I explained the situation and the police officer (very cute by the way) said a fire exit was necessary. And I responded, “I know. If I want to seal it off, it would shut them down.” I stated that if the bar was concerned that we were blocking the exit or in some way doing anything that was dangerous to their patrons, they could call inspectors or the police, but that they were not the enforcers of this matter. I offered to show the police the title report to indicate that the bar had no right of access. After looking at it, the police said they would go in and advise the bar that we could shut them down if we wanted to.

And since then, the glorious yard is calm. I am just so confused that someone who relies on the kindness of strangers would have the gall to pick a fight that they cannot win.

And that’s my rant for the day.