Karma Cleanser - February 26 2003

Dear Karma Cleanser:
I had a pipe burst for the second time in three years. I live in a condominium complex and my neighbor has been unfortunate enough to have her unit damaged with water as well. The insurance company does not allow for both units to be covered under one claim, therefore my neighbor is responsible for the damage to her unit.

This time my neighbor asked me to pay her deductible ($500). I declined, but I wonder if this will haunt me in the future. I am a firm believer in what goes around comes around, even though I could really do nothing to avoid the pipe burst.

-- Pipe Dreams


Yes, this is going to haunt you in the future, given that the problem pipe was in your unit. Just because your insurance company doesn’t peg you as responsible, you’re not off the hook yet. Sure, you couldn’t have avoided it, but the water damage is still your liability, especially since this has happened before. Offer to pay your neighbor’s deductible, or at least part of it. To do otherwise is to the tempt the Condo Vengeance Demons, and they’re never any fun to deal with.

Dear Karma Cleanser:
I panicked just before going on a blind date and coerced my friend (a girl) to come along and make it a double date. My friend brought with her a guy that she’d just started seeing, Rich. My blind date turned out to be a somewhat quiet but attractive girl named Catherine. The four of us had dinner together and the conversation came pretty easily, given that only my friend and I knew each other.

We came back to my house to watch a movie I’d rented and soon enough the sparks started to fly — between Catherine and Rich! They began making out on the floor of my living room right in front of my friend and me. I got really pissed and asked them both to leave. Help me understand what I did to deserve this. Somehow I managed to ruin not just one potential relationship but two.

-- Dumb and Blind

First off, who invites spectators to a blind date? That’s the whole point, to get to know a stranger one-on-one. And second, who watches a rented movie on the first date? Your problem here isn’t bad karma, but suck-ass planning. No wonder Catherine dumped you. We would have probably hooked up with Rich, too. Next time, at least have the balls to face your mystery date alone, or don’t agree to blind dates in the first place.

Been bad? karma@creativeloafing.com.