Dilemma

Yes that's what I have. My neighbour who is a sweet old man, who should be admired for his persistence and fighting spirit. For example, the old man's back is so bent that I don't know when he saw the sky last...hmm I do know when i saw the sky last. Last summer as I went out onto my balcony i heard the music from a radio playing from the balcony next to mine, I saw that the door was open, but I couldn't see anyone. I guessed he was inside. I sat down, opened my book and let the sun warm up my cold morning body. Before I had to go in and cool down, It was a really hot day, I caught a glimpse of a pair of feet, upside down. bouncing up and down behind the fence of the balcony. Then I heard this rumbling and deep fart... I threw myself on the floor and crawled into my appartment again, giggling like a little boy.

I can only guess that he was doing his morning gymnastics and that that helped his stomach in the morning. I really admire someone who without respect can do something like that, I mean it's his balcony after all, and at that age!

So you see, it's a sweet old man, and he doesn't disturb me at all, except when he some weeks ago rang my door bell. I opened, he stood there with his crumb back looking down at the floor. He said: A fuse has gone out, could you please help me insert a new one? How can I refuse an old man with such a request? But, I did think about refusing. You see, I've always suspected that his appartment would be a seriously filthy place. Sometimes when I get to my door I sense an awful smell which origin is the old mans appartment. Further more, the first time I checked out my new appartment, I saw a swarm of fruit flies situated around the old man's door post. I mentioned this to my land lord, who was with me, and the next day I came there the flies were gone.

The sight and smell of the old mans appartment hit me like something really big, hard and heavy would have hit me if it had hit me. Dust lay inch thick everywhere, every door post had dust hanging from them half a meter down. The stove was so black from grease and soot that I didn't see a white spot on it, it actually look more like the landscape of the trenches of WWI. On the rack beside the front door, hats and stuff lay not touched in probably 20 years. Paintings, alot of them stood against all the walls, cans and garbage lay all over the floor, some of them probably from the last millenia. The smell was hidious, brutaly awful.

I quickly as I could changed the fuse and got the hell out of there.

The question that I'm struggling with is if I should report him to either the social service or the land lord? Could I do that to an old man? Should I do that? The place is hazardous to both his health and to the health of everyone in the building. At the same time, I know the figures about how long an elder lasts after they've been removed from their home. And he does manage. He does his own shopping, he cooks, he dresses and he does his excersises. He should be a role model for people at that age. But he lives in filth.

What should I do?