Bro that guy just handed you a free taco when your card bounced?? That is wild. Most places would've hit you with the "sorry man, no cash no taco" and moved right along. The fact that he played it off like the extra one was about to go bad is the smoothest move ever. Dude basically saved your whole night and acted like it was nothing.

Galleria's escalator was still safer even stopped, since a stuck slide beats a 10 foot drop.

The part I'd push back on is that the notes were the problem. The notes were just a symptom. Derek wasn't avoiding conflict because he was chill, he was avoiding it because he never planned to change anything or hear your side. A guy who yells for 10 minutes is at least telling you the thing matters to him right now. 14 notes in 8 months means he'd already decided talking to you wasn't worth it, and that's the part that eats at you, not the sticky notes. I lived with a note leaver too and what got me was realizing every note was one more time he chose the fridge over my face.