At the time of this writing (April 20, 2020), I had a paying tenant renting a room in my home. Then this happened:
Some time ago I was speaking with an acquaintance who I rarely see. She asked me “Is your boyfriend OK?” Thinking she had me confused with someone else, I laughed and replied “What boyfriend? I don’t have a boyfriend.” She responded “Oh, well, you know, your friend who lives with you.” ** Insert 'record needle scratch' sound effect here**
Gathering my composure, I sternly stated “He’s NOT my boyfriend. He is my tenant. THAT is the extent of our relationship, period. I am completely single. BUT since you asked; why wouldn’t he be OK?”
She went on to tell me that she “had heard” that my live-in boyfriend had been found unresponsive in our driveway and taken off in an ambulance. And that it must have been serious because a lot of emergency vehicles were on the scene.
As I told her; THAT is how rumors get started.
For anyone else who may “had heard” that absurd story, here’s the truth:
First of all, I am single, unpaired, free, unmatched, available, unrestricted, unattached – whatever adjective suits your vocabulary.
However, on March 18th someone, was in fact, found unconscious and unresponsive in my driveway. But it was not me nor my tenant (NOT boyfriend) nor anyone associated with my residence. Yes, it is true SEVEN county sheriff vehicles, TWO fire department vehicles and ONE ambulance surrounded my house. BUT it was all because a former neighbor, chemically impaired, drove from his new apartment in Durham and wound up at MY place instead of his own previous residence which is literally just steps away and where I assume his under-the-influenced brain really intended to be. Apparently, he hung out for a while then eventually passed out in my driveway. My next-door neighbor (not my mom - the other side) came home, saw him and called 911 who rolled up like they had just found the Uni-bomber hideout.
My tenant (NOT boyfriend) was sick in bed all day and didn’t realize what was going on until he heard the sirens. I was at work and missed all the excitement.
So, despite what it looked like with 10 emergency vehicles of all shapes & sizes with all the sirens and pretty flashing lights convening at my home, there was never a boyfriend in my driveway, near-dead or otherwise. If there’s gonna be rumors going around about me regarding this incident, why couldn’t it be something like ‘I was caught cooking meth’ or ‘I got collared for murder’? I could live with that kind of false gossip. But to start a rumor that ‘I have a boyfriend’ . . . man, that’s just hurtful.
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