Thanks guys,
The policeman was great (even though he looked about twelve years old). He arrived before Jess returned from school, as requested. Helen had noted the registration number of the car, although this belonged to the window cleaner (Matt), not the guy who threatend us:
The policeman said the following:
He could speak to the window cleaner - to advise
him to lay off.
The incident will be logged and any further incidents
can be classed as harrassment, and/or a public order
offence because he threatend us.
I have phoned two other local window cleaners: one offered to help me out intimidating him in return. I refused the offer, but it was nice to receive. They don't know much about him because the vast majority of his round consists of an army married quarter area of about three hundred houses where he is the sole window cleaner.
Unfortunately (for Matt), they're on a unit move to Northern Ireland and a new battalion is moving in. Many of the occupants moving out dislike Matt (so didn't have him as a window cleaner and done without) and have asked me to clean their married quarters on the 'march out'.
Initially I didn't want to do this; so priced high (£25 for inside and out for a small two or three bedroomed house - takes about forty minutes) - I was a Warrant Officer in the Battalion and I thought lads would take the proverbial out of me.
However the demand was high and when I saw Matt in the area, I told him what I was doing. I was cleaning the houses he didn't clean, so they could hand them over to the estate warden. I also mistakenly told him how much I was charging. He saw red, had a whine, said he was the window cleaner for that area. I told him I wouldn't argue - not in front of the soldiers - they'd only take the p@ss.
That's what got his back up!
Rethinking the incident, the window cleaner is half-caste and the guy who threatened me was black and bore a striking resemblance to Matt. We think he was actually his father; who did a good impersonation of a drug-dealing gangster. We reckon the Matt didn't want to make it sound like he needed his Dad to help him sort out a problem, so they concocted this story.
It didn't help much when they were were both towering threatenly over me, both shouting, (I'm not short, but they're big) and Helen (who's 5' 1") shouted "you're both a bunch of W@@@@@@S".
On parting, the threatening guy said he would get Matt to discuss the matter with me (because it was beneath him to talk 'nuts and bolts' and he had to get to Norwich to sort out another 'problem window cleaner'). I told him, I might divide the married quarter area up with him (then imediately regretted compromising with bullies).
He wouldn't give me a telephone number, and the final words I asked were "So Matt cleans windows and pays money to you? How does that work if you live in London?" (We're in South Wales).
He replied "He cleans windows, that's all you need to know".
I'm now torn between:
1. Keeping away from the married quarter estate -
and letting the bullies win.
2. Doing the married quarter estate - two fingers
to them.
3. Finding out where he lives (I've been told the
area), getting friend to phone and say "come and
clean my windows, but I'm never in, I'll have to send
a cheque", and giving them a visit with a balaclava
and a stout piece of wood.
The grown up thing would be to do option 2, but I would like to do option 3, but I'll probably end up doing option 1!
I thought window cleaning was meant to be stress free!
