Aug. 21, 2003 ~ Thursday
I am such a packrat. Sort of. It's not that I plan to save stuff, it's just that I tend to let it stack up, thinking I'll deal with it later, and then "later" arrives sooner than planned. Everyone else in this house does the same thing, so it can get cluttered in no time at all. Constant de-cluttering is required, and if other things come up that require my time and attention -- what a mess. So a couple of days this week I sorted and tossed and shredded and filed, just a little bit here and there, and now I have a nice clean desk, and a few clean counters, and this is good. I like it this way. A lot.
A young friend (young, in this case, means she's 27) called me today, quite upset. Seems her apartment complex has really gone downhill in the past year or so, and the newer tenants have been loud, obnoxious, and violent. Oh, and they are drug dealers and gang members, too. Her boyfriend grew up in such a neighborhood, and wanted out as soon as things took a turn for the worse, but she thought they would be safe if they just stayed indoors and kept their doors locked. She complained to management about certain tenants, though. Those same tenants (close neighbors) were just involved in a gun battle, where they shot and nearly killed a young police officer. He'll live, though I don't know what his condition will be. My friend's boyfriend does not want to stay there another day, saying he does not feel safe. They had already planned to move, but their new apartment will not be ready for a while yet. Boyfriend wants to move tonight, even if it means staying with relatives temporarily, and renting a storage space for their things. And losing money. He doesn't care; he just wants them to be okay. She doesn't really feel unsafe at all, now that the worst tenants are in jail and unlikely to get out. But she is reluctantly going to move out, and they do not expect to spend another night in that apartment. She is especially upset that she will lose a month's rent, a fair sum of money for them, and the apartment complex owners will not budge on this issue. I asked if she knew any lawyers, who might be willing to make a call on her behalf... she does not. She's angry that she complained about these neighbors being dangerous and management did nothing. Her theory is that the young officer might not be in that hospital bed today, had management been more careful about their screening process or taken her concerns seriously. And she would not be wanting to move, had they not let things get to this point.
It's a bad situation, no matter what.
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