Below is a series of letters between me and an old tenant of mine.
February 5, 1988
Dear Mark:
Marsha Gray is a good friend of mine. She says that when she used to rent an apartment from you on McAuley Street, you use to give her free firewood - for free! She says that you give free firewood to your tenants all the time. How come I never get any?
Yours,
EllenFebruary 8, 1988
Dear Ellen:
It is true that I used to give free firewood to Marsha Gray, and I still give free firewood to my tenants. The reason I haven't offered you any free firewood is because your cottage does not have a fireplace.
Sincerely,
Mark TarsesFebruary 10, 1988
Dear Mark:
I know I haven't got a fireplace. If I did have one, I would have seen it by now. But thats irrelevant. If you give free firewood to your other tenants, I should get some too!
Yours,
EllenFebruary 14, 1988
Dear Ellen:
I don't understand. Since you have no fireplace, why do you want firewood and what would you do with it if I gave it to you?
Sincerely,
Mark TarsesFebruary 18, 1988
Dear Mark:
I knew you were going to ask that question. I don't know what I would do with the firewood, but I want it anyway. It annoys me that you give free firewood to your other tenants and that I don't get any. I pay my rent on time.
Yours,
EllenFebruary 24, 1988
Dear Ellen:
I am sorry that you feel this way, but I am not going to change my position. I only give free firewood to my tenants who have fireplaces or wood burning stoves.
Sincerely,
Mark TarsesMarch 2, 1988
Dear Mark:
OK. Then can I get a fireplace? I'd like to have a fireplace, and there is a good place to put one, on the north wall in my living room. There are no windows on that wall, and I think it would look really nice there. A fireplace would increase the value of my cottage, so it would be a good investment for YOU!
Yours,
EllenMarch 8, 1988
Dear Ellen:
I am not going to build a fireplace in your cottage just so I can give you free firewood. Frankly, I think this is ridiculous.
Sincerely,
Mark TarsesI feel that my position on free firewood is reasonable. What do you think?
In late 1988, I showed the letters above to my Uncle Alfred, who was in San Francisco attending an ABA (American Bar Association) convention. Uncle Alfred was a dean of the law school at Suffolk University in Boston at the time. Alfred asked me for xerox copies of the firewood letters, which he took back to Boston and read to his students. He said that these letters illustrated a legal concept that he had been talking about - that facts are relevant in restricting legal entitlements. The entitlement here is free firewood. The restriction is that I don't give firewood to tenants who have no use for it. I felt honored that my firewood letters became the topic of an academic discussion among law students!