Tuesday, July 26, 2016

Your Shit Don't Stink

After hoping for nothing but the best, the guy, went with the other place! The only choice I had at the time was to take Lisa as a tenant. I called her and she was happy she got the place. I was looking forward to living with someone who walks with a cane.

Lisa moved in after work. She called me when she was at the parking lot, this time, she hadn't blocked the driveway. She had one of those carts that peoples use when they go grocery shopping, in order for them not to have to carry bags and bags of groceries on the bus, etc. She had put some of her stuff in there. She had a duffle bag with a few items of clothing. She definitely was traveling light. In her cart, she had her small heater and other things. It was just after seven when she arrived and I was about to have dinner. I offered her some, she told me that she had brought her own food. She did tell me that she wasn't hungry, was probably going to eat the following day. That serves me even better because I want to have lines drawn between what we're sharing and what we're not. She had brought a tray of fried chicken. That's one of my go to foods when I PMS, 8 pieces of fried chicken, sometimes, I ask for half fried and half grilled, just so I don't feel so guilty. She had brought other stuff to eat as well. She insisted I have some of her chicken. I politely declined. My thing is, I eat enough junk when I PMS, when I have cooked and can control my appetite, I want to eat what I have prepared myself. You know?



This lady had brought her own napkins. She had a whole thing of them. I thought that was cool, people don't usually bring cleaning supplies and stuff like that and I don't expect them to. As long as they clean up after themselves, they can use mine.

After our little chat,  I went to my room. I didn't want to be that person, who overstays their welcome. Lisa paid for one night, telling me that she was going to get paid the following day and subsequently pay me for the following week. I was ok with that because just from sitting and watching her struggle to do anything without her cane and leaning on my white walls with her hands, leaving hand prints whenever she walks by. I had to think about whether I wanted to deal with that. Was the money she was going to pay me to stay there worth the stress? That was only the first night, what's going to happen when her true personality comes out after about a week to two? I was going to move out in a few months. I had managed to keep the place as neat as possible for almost a year. Am I willing to have someone undo all that in a matter of weeks? Was I willing to lose my deposit because of this?

After about three hours, I smelt food and heard noise coming from the kitchen. I assumed she was heating up her chicken. Fine! But then I heard a noise that sounded like someone was digging into the bottom of the pot with the spoon as if to remove burned food. Those pots are non stick. How stuck is her food? Also, please don't do that to my new non-stick pots! It looked like I was about to have myself another Jen situation. But why? What have I done to deserve this happen to me all over again?

My heart was beating faster hearing her attack my pots like that, but I didn't want her first night to be as horrible as mine was becoming.

I eventually went to sleep. When I woke up to use the restroom, I couldn't breathe! My gosh! The smell in the hallway! I opened the bathroom door and whew! That's where it was coming from. Don't get me wrong, I understand that things happen in the bathroom etc etc. This was the level after the next level type smell. It was crazy! My bathroom doesn't have a window to the outside, I don't know if she used the fan/vent and air freshener. I always have air freshener in the bathroom; more than one, actually cos I like nice smells. Who doesn't? I always have candles and other nice smelling things AND a can of air freshener, there's no excuse for that kind of poisonous smell in the middle of the night.

There I was, spraying all over my bedroom, the hallway and the bathroom. There's a door between the hallway and the living room. That was shut. Luckily for Lisa! My bedroom is next to the bathroom, so hard luck for me!

The following morning, I got up to use the restroom (I drink a lot of water, OK? ), the smell in he hallway! Again! Christ! How do you address this kind of issue? Do you mention the obvious; that they should please use air freshener? What do you do? I sprayed all over the place again, holding my breath. Here I am, taking the time I should be doing to do what I got up for, instead of actually doing it. You know how badly you need to pee when you first wake up? There's no extra time to pray and then wait for the smell to go away...kinda. That wasn't the only situation I was facing that morning. There were napkins on the toilet sing. I wondered if she is a neat freak and didn't wanna sit where I had sat. If that were the case, that wouldn't bug me. I have my secret stash of wet wipes that I use before I use the toilet too. But why are the napkins /serviettes still on the seat? Who's supposed to remove them for her. I asked her if she was still busy in the bathroom. That was my way of saying, you're not done cleaning up after yourself! Lisa told me that she was done, to please go ahead! Uhm, I don't think so, lady!

I hated doing it to a lady my mom't age group but I had to please remove the wet napkins from the seat. Like, I haven't worked as a nursing aide for a long time and I wasn't about to find myself trapped in that kind of situation again. For no payment, too! What the heck!

It was a tough 12 hours since Lisa had moved in. I had a lot to think about. I was glad she had only paid for one night. You see, there's a good reason for everything! It would have been very hard to give her her money back and ask her not to come back.

I had to have a conversation with her. I told her that I had stated in my listing and mentioned it again to her in person there aren't any house rules really, but the tenant would have to pick up after themselves. I didn't think I would have to brink it up again but it's a major problem for me when people put me in a situation where I have to pick up after them. I mean, this lady placed napkins all over the toilet seat and peed all over them, then walked away as if she did nothing weird. This is not a public restroom! She couldn't look me in the eye when  I address the issue. She  told me she intended to remove them. Mind you, she has a knee situation, which is why she uses a cane. I felt horrible making her do it but she wasn't paying me to be her caregiver. I'm sorry!



9 comments:

  1. OMG what an awkward situation Brook.Yooooo I don't even know what to say. Yooo better you than me. I would have removed them or something because I would not have had a backbone to tell an almost pensioner to clean up after herself. Kudos to you 😂.

    You guess what my tenant/air bnb does??? She doesn't use dishwashing liquid to wash dishes. And you find streaks of dirt on my poor plates and my non stick pots 😢. Then she leaves particles of food 🍲 in the sick and dish cloth dirty. Yooo I want to cry everytime she walks into the kutchen.

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    1. Clearly, you're a better man than I am! I would never even try to tell my mom to pick up after herself, but then again, my mom would never act like that lady does!
      It was a tricky situation for sure.
      What does she use to wash dishes? Just clean water? Can't you tell her to feel free to see soap? The thing is, you've got to set a precedence from the get go of how you want things to go. At least for the most part. If I had cleaned up the woman's urine soaked napkins, at a later stage, it was hard to tell her to do it herself. She'd have been like, why didn't you tell me from the beginning.
      The moment you saw your roommate left you with dirty dishes to entertain your guests, which is so embarrassing, you should've addressed it. With love, and continue to be nice afterwards, so that she can see that you're not fighting.

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    2. You see! You have mini heart attacks whenever she approaches the kitchen. Does she know how you feel? If not, and you continue to act as if everything is OK, you're not helping anyone; definitely not yourself. Which begs the question: Is the money she is paying for the room worth you cleaning up after her and the mini heart attacks you get when she's around?

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  2. Oh did I mention that shebis only 24 years old? I doubt her bed is even made up when she leaves for work. She drives an Audi Q 5 and it's spotlessly clean. How does that work???

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    1. Personally, I don't think age has anything to do with it! When I was that age, I lived on my own and was considerate and used to pick up after myself, especially when sharing space. I wouldn't mind what goes on in her room as long as she keeps the common areas tidy. I know a lot of guys whose cars are spotless and homes, not so much.

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    2. Lol just yesterday I found particles of food on my kitchen counter and I cleaned that up. Then this morning I found oats. So I just asked if she could clean it up and she took the kitchen swab and wiped and left those particles on the swab. Yooo I mean really?

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    3. OMG! I wonder if she is used to cleaning up at all. Maybe she just doesn't know how.

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    4. Oh she doesn't even make up her bed. Her bed is only made on Fridays when the lady cleans for us comes.

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    5. As long as she keeps the door to her bedroom closed.
      How long are you going to have her there for?

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