All over the finger

[ REDACTED! ]

Carol Ann [ REDACTED! ]

[ REDACTED! ]

Mays Landing, NJ 08330

Monday, April 7, 2008

Ms. [ REDACTED! ]

[ REDACTED! ] Realty Management

[ REDACTED! ] Road, #[ REDACTED! ]

[ REDACTED! ]Township, NJ [ REDACTED! ]

Dear Ms. [ REDACTED! ],

Thank you for taking the time today to speak with both my sister and myself regarding our encounter with [ REDACTED! ] and [ REDACTED! ] [ REDACTED! ] on Saturday, April 5^th 2008. At your request, we are writing to give our statement as to the events as we experienced them, as well as offer our opinion as to a satisfactory resolution to this matter.

At approximately 4:30pm on April 5^th, My sister and I went to the field behind the
[ REDACTED! ] club house with our dog to play ball, as we have on an almost daily basis for the last two years. We were at the field no longer than 5 minutes when I was approached by [ REDACTED! ] [ REDACTED! ]. She informed me that dogs need to be kept on a leash, and when pressed, identified her self as “[ REDACTED! ], I’m on the board”. Ms. [ REDACTED! ] also stated that “we’d all like to exercise our dogs” and she’d “hate to have to fine (me)”. At this time Ms. [ REDACTED! ] left the scene, my sister and I collected our dog, and headed home. As we were approaching our home at #4 [ REDACTED! ], we noticed Ms. [ REDACTED! ] standing in (presumably) her driveway with a 2 or 3 other people. They were all watching us walk towards our house, and a man in the group pointed directly at us. In an admittedly childish gesture, both my sister and I saluted this group with “the finger” (middle). Ms. [ REDACTED! ] thanked us as we entered our home.

Not a moment later, Mr. [ REDACTED! ]was charging across my front yard and standing on our front step. My sister, Carol Ann, stepped outside to speak with him. Mr. [ REDACTED! ] asked if (we) had given his wife “the finger”. Carol Ann confirmed that we had. When asked why, Carol Ann explained that she was unhappy at being reprimanded and threatened with a fine for something that we’ve both been doing for 2 years, as well as have many other residents with their dogs. Mr. [ REDACTED! ] mentioned an unrelated incident involving our dog with another neighbor’s dog, which was confusing. At this point Carol Ann asked Mr. [ REDACTED! ] to leave our property, as she wasn’t interested in an argument with a stranger; especially a male stranger who seemed agitated. Mr. [ REDACTED! ] refused to leave. At this point, our mother, who was seated immediately inside the house asked me to step outside, as she was afraid that Mr. [ REDACTED! ] may get physical with Carol Ann. When I stepped outside, I also asked Mr. [ REDACTED! ] to leave my property. He again refused, and then warned us not to “give (his) wife the finger again”, and stated that we “wouldn’t like what would happen” and “it will be worse than you can imagine, trust me.” At this point, my sister and I retreated into the house, offering that perhaps the police could convince him to leave our front step. At this point, Mr. [ REDACTED! ] sat down on our front step, presumably waiting for the police we promised to call. Mr. [ REDACTED! ]’s wife then approached our house, and [ REDACTED! ] [ REDACTED! ] finally left. We decided not call the police, as we were quite bewildered by this odd situation, though we were quite upset. We had planned to attend a charity event in Cape May County that evening, but did not as we felt uncomfortable leaving our mother alone in the home after being threatened in such a vague manner as did Mr. [REDACTED! ].

It was not until this morning, after speaking with you and viewing the association website (www.[ REDACTED! ].net) that we realized that aside from being [ REDACTED! ] [ REDACTED! ]’s husband, [ REDACTED! ] [ REDACTED! ] is also the President of the Community Association Board.

After having uncertain threats leveled against us over such a small affront as the extension of a finger, my sister and I feel that the only reasonable action is to remove both Mr. and Mrs. [ REDACTED!] from the Community Association Board. We are willing to attend arbitration on this manner at an agreed-upon time and location, provided we are permitted to bring an escort. Thank you for your time an attention to this matter, and we look forward to moving on with a satisfactory solution for all involved.

Respectfully,

[ REDACTED! ]
Carol Ann [ REDACTED! ]

The suburbs are weird.