RETURN TO REGULARLY SCHEDULED PROGRAMMING

We return now to our regular programming schedule and join today’s episode of “The Home”.

As you may recall there has been relative peace in “The Home.” Backbiting was nearly non-existent. Enemies were staying on opposite sides of the street and the gossips have been under the weather and not out sharing their “concerns”. But that all that has changed today after the mail arrived.

The natives are back on the warpath. They would be putting on their war paint if their faces weren’t bright red to begin with. A small note in our contract has been ignored over the past two and one half years I have lived here. Today, offenders received a strongly written letter (read nasty) giving them eight days to correct the situation.

The clause says that no one may store anything in the small space in front of his or her car. It is to remain open and clean of personal belongings. I suspect there are a dozen or more people that have huge piles of things in front of their cars. The space is small so the piles go up. There are one or two I wonder when the pile will fall over. Mostly people store what would typically be garage type items. There are garden supplies, bicycles, tools, and just boxes of who knows what.

Two years ago the management moved in a large collection (about 30) of used stoves that were changed out in various apartments. I don’t know where they were before they were brought here, but they consume the largest open space in the garage. When those appeared the piles began to grow. The feeling was if they can turn the garage into a junk pile, residents could certainly store some personal items there as well.

Each of us signed a contract that disallowed the practice. But no one has enforced the practice. Now with eight days left there is a group that would like to tar and feather the bosses. One was so angry she went around and took photos of everything on the property that she considered an eyesore that belonged to the housing authority. The worst pile is the stoves. Everything else was very picky: some weeds, some over grown plants, areas that needed painting, etc. She then took the photos and her own nasty letter to the bosses demanding equality. You clean up your spaces and we will clean up ours. There is little doubt that she doesn’t have a legal leg to stand on, but she may feel better now. She is one of two educated and trained gardeners. I expect at least one will move. The other is on section 8 and would likely not find another place as low priced as this.

I don’t know what they will do, but anger, frustration, gossip and useless threats are the current approach. I’ve been here long enough to know that will never work. Neither would management be disappointed if these two moved. First they have a long waiting list of people wanting in here and second — these two are a pain in the …