I'm in an AirBnB in the suburb of Macleod, somewhere in Melbourne, Australia. I'm renting a room in a house with the host being in residence and another room being AirBnB'd. The host is a Chinese Australian lady, probably 30'ish (maybe a little younger, maybe a little older), who I've had little to do with up until today. That is the nature of some AirBnB's where the schedules of the host and the guest means that you may see little of each other from day to day. Suzanna has a broad Australian accent and had come across as a no-nonsense lady who was busy with whatever she was doing outside of being an AirBnB host.
Three days ago Ben took up residence as another AirBnB guest. The next day was a Sunday. A day where I would get to know a little about Ben over a shared breakfast. Ben is in his early 40's, Anglo Australian, has a daughter who is almost 18, had been residing in Perth until fairly recently and has a 24 year old Korean girlfriend who is living in Korea, with parents he is not allowed to meet until he learns to speak Korean. He cut breakfast short to take himself off to Church. To my eye Ben is morbidly obese and must be a candidate for any of the ailments associated with obesity such as diabetes, heart disease and sleep disorders. I can testify that he almost certainly has issues with his sleep based solely on the decibel levels associated with his snoring. While the noise level from his snoring was mildly bothersome in my room, I'm pretty sure that it would have been unbearable if I had had to try to sleep in the same room.
Ben had a job estimating quotes with a plumbing firm near Melbourne airport. Seemed like a quiet polite bloke
On Ben's first night I arrived home around mid-night and the evaporative air-conditioning system was going. This air-con system is a noisy system, with an outlet in each bedroom. Not having been instructed on where the controls for the air-con were I went to bed and woke in the morning to a quiet room, with the air-con having been turned off overnight.
After Ben left for Church Suzanna arose and asked me about the air-con running. It seems Ben, being a plumber, had worked out where the controls were and had turned it on. Suzanna didn't want it running overnight. Partly due to the noise, partly due to cost and had turned it off. My assumption is that Suzanna then discussed the air-con with Ben.
Last evening when I returned to the house at around 7:15pm, the air-con was running. Ben came out of his room and let me know that "only the fan function is on. Felt a bit stuffy when I got here so turned that on to get some air-movement". From the pre-emptive nature of the conversation I'm sure there had been a conversation between Ben and Suzanna about the air-con. Ben then let me know he was watching a movie on headphones and went back into his room. Suzanna came home later and we had a chat around 9:00pm. Suzanna was surprised to find the air con running and I relayed the earlier conversation with Ben re only having the fan function of the air-con running. Suzanna pointed out there were ceiling fans in each bedroom and if he had just wanted air movement he could have turned his ceiling fan on. I retired sometime around 9:30 - 10:00 pm. Suzanna turned off the air-con - in part due to the noise in the bedroom.
Then, it appears, while I was stacking some Z's, the drama began.
Ben turned the fan function on the air-con on again.
Suzanna messaged him on AirBnB
Ben had been drinking sake
Things escalated. First on the AirBnB messaging system. Then the old fashioned way. Face-to-face.
At some stage Ben called Suzanna, in Suzanna's terms "The C word".
Suzanna asked him to leave
Ben, having consumed too much sake, declined on the grounds he was not safe to drive.
Suzanna messaged me around 11:20pm on AirBnB
just letting you know that Ben is drunk and has been incredibly rude to me tonight. I don't think he is dangerous but he is not acting like a sober person. I wanted to ask Airbnb to relocate him tonight but he says he's too drunk to drive so I'm having them relocate him first thing tomorrow. Just wanted to let you in case you hear anything.When I arose this morning I saw Ben heading down the hallway towards the front door dragging a suitcase behind him, with Suzanna casting looks at his back that, if they had been daggers, would have been life threatening.
Suzanna and I had a bit of a post-mortem over breakfast before she headed off to work. At one point she wondered whether Ben was a tad racist. My suspicion is that if there is any character flaw in Ben, it is that flaw known as "arsehole when drunk". A flaw I've had to own up to in the past. And, after quitting the demon alcohol almost five years ago now, a flaw I'm glad that I haven't displayed for some time now.... I have sympathy for both players in the drama that unfolded last night. Suzanna for the rudeness she was subject to. And the fear she likely felt when having to deal with a large, drunk male. (Although she did point out that while he was drunk he didn't appear to be threatening. If he had gone down that path, his size would have been an issue for her. On the flip side, while large, due to his obesity he couldn't move very fast... And she could have knocked on my door, yelled out for help).
And sympathy (maybe empathy) for Ben. This morning, all things being equal, he is likely to be feeling shame and embarrassment. And, unless he never drinks again, is likely to behave reprehensibly again when drunk again in the future. Which, again, will be followed by shame and embarrassment.
I did hear muffled voices at some point last night. But not the content of the discussions that they were having. Incorrectly my sleep addled mind's initial impressions were that Suzanna had a male friend over and why couldn't they be quieter in their conversation. While, in retrospect, it would have been better for my male ego to have arisen from my slumber to offer aid, it seems that Suzanna is a more than competent lady who takes no prisoners when insulted.
I wonder how many stars they will give each other on AirBnB's rating system?
