Today as soon as I show up I see 2 cars parked behind a building, both running but with no driver in either one. 4 guys and some kids are standing around them. One of the guys is crack rock illegal tenant guy.
Shit Shit Shit. It's 10:30 in the morning and I haven't even finished my coffee yet. I have to deal with THIS now?
I suck it up, walk on over to the group, say "good morning" and ask them to park the cars legally. I recognize the cars, but I know they don't belong to a tenant. I walk away, but keep my eye on them and they are still there. I call the police non-emergency number and report them as trespassers. As I'm on the phone with the dispatcher, 1 of the cars pulls away. Nevermind, I tell the lady, I think they're leaving. Well, she says, if they come back, give us a call.
Now as I sit in the office, tenants in the building across from me are grilling out, and there's big guy in a white polo shirt standing at the corner of the building. I know he's not a tenant, but if he's a guest of 1 of the others there's not much I can do about it now.
I see him walk across to another building, so I grab my keys and emergency phone and follow him. He's on the back stoop of 1 of the tenants in a building behind the office. I say hi to him, talk to some of the kids who are out playing, and notice a car that has been driving through the parking lot all morning parked illegally. I ask him if it's his car and he nods no. I say that I don't want to stick a parking violation on it until I ask the person to move it, and he sort of nods. I walk up to the group BBQ-ing and ask them if they know who's car it is and they say it's a friend of another tenant. Sure enough, 2 seconds later she's getting in the car and leaving. The big guy must be her look-out.
I try to be calm in these situations, but I'm always shaking afterwards. Do I want to be a warrior on the front lines in the war against drugs? No. Because there will always be more of them than of me. But I do want to do my job well, and this is my job.
How the fuck did I get here? I am midwestern through and through. I am blonde naturally. Confrontation is my biggest fear. I am addicted to beer and cheese, and can give up beer but not cheese. I seriously go through cheese withdrawl. I will probably die in jeans and a t-shirt, because it's my favorite outfit. I own a bunad. I own a gun and can drive a tractor, my car is a stick shift and I would rather drive in 6 feet of snow and ice than in heavy city traffic.
Ugg, I'm fighting off panic attack number 2 of the week. Time to suck it up and make "rounds" - it's like being a college RA or a camp counselor. I walk around and scold people for doing things that are against the rules and we both know full well they'll start again as soon as I leave. Damnit I hated the college RAs. The worst part of "rounds" are the basements. They're small and dank and dark and you never know who, or what, you're going to find. Last week I found graffiti on the wall that said "Yung Assasinz" in cray paz. CRAY PAZ. The oily crayon things kids use. I didn't know if I should laugh or cry. The maintenance lady found a sleeping bag from someone who was living in the basement stairwell (homeless person or illegal tenant, who knows?) THIS IS WHY YOU CAN'T PROP THE DOORS OPEN. Also, people hide their drugs in the basement.
Okay, I feel better having vented. But on a side note, if I ever find / have to deal with a dead body, I quit.
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