Tuesday, July 8, 2008

You Tell Me...

So, I'm going to sound like a total racist here but it is what it is...

The building that I live in is a fairly nice 5 story condo enclave with "key access only" around the perimeter and a lobby accessible only by a key and call box which every unit is hooked into. Sounds pretty safe right? We have parking by permit and security that patrols every so often (I can't really say they are effective but they are present).

So, there was virtually a zero percent crime rate on the premises until (at least since I have been there and it's going on 3 years as of August)...here it comes (the racist part)...several black families have moved in. Apparently, a few owners have decided to buy up the empty units and rent them out. Since said families have moved into the complex, we have had several cars broken into, a motorcycle stolen, a few of the garages have been broken into (some have had the fencing separating them cut with bolt cutters) and items stolen from these privately owned garages, the laundry room has become a dumping ground for all kinds of shit like garbage, old unwanted clothes and miscellaneous household items such as air filters, pots, etc. The elevator has had the lights replaced at least twice because someone keeps popping the light bulbs, not to mention someone has taken to etching all kinds of graffiti into the doors of said elevator with a key possibly and there is now trash being left all over the fucking place like the hallways, elevator and grounds.

We recently got a notice from the association stating that "someone" has recently been throwing their cigarette butts out the window of their unit and has started the bushes directly below them on fire not once but twice!

Isn't there a fucking pre-rental screening of the possible occupants? WTF?

I feel like I have now all of a sudden been moved into ghetto-ville. I also have a guy (yes he is black also) who just moved into a studio down the hall from me. Apparently, there are now 5 people living in that studio including a very loud girlfriend and her 2 year old child, a shady looking 6 foot 7 inch friend whom I have caught "accidentally" trying the doors of other's on the floor and some random guy who shows up every other week. And believe me, they are not quiet in the least.

So you tell me, am I racist or am I right? I don't see any coincidences here actually...
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3 comments:

Metro said...

Well, for starters, correlation is not causation. Those somebodies comitting the break-ins and vandalism are presently colourless.

I lived with Mme in her old condo, which was in the auto theft hot zone. Our garage was broken into numerous times, and this was in part due to a couple of people a) letting their shady friends into the building and failing to escort them out, b) letting strangers into the building because they couldn't bring themselves to be impolite about slamming the door or asking for proof of residency.

It's possible some new tenants have undesirable friends, and you should definitely raise the issue. But it's only racist if you're basing your suspicions solely on the colour of someone's skin. And you're the only one who can answer that question.

Remember, too, that we're conditioned to pick out the different by eye. That you notice these black families when all this is going on is part of our pattern-seeking nature. But that instinct can betray us, too.

July 8, 2008 at 1:07 PM
Metro said...

Oh--and the bush fires are just godforsaken ignorant smokers. I used to smoke, and for the last three or four years I crushed out the cinder and pocketed the butt.

July 8, 2008 at 1:10 PM
Pugs said...

Point taken. I would have to agree that the friends they have are quite shady. Still even if it were not the tenants who were at the center of the crime spree, they are ultimately responsible for the actions of their guests. I guess if it walks like a duck, looks like a duck...

I should have finished the story about the notice to all occupants in the building. It did turn out to be one of the new tenants who moved in. They had removed the screens from the windows so they could hang out of them as well. This, fortunately, was against association rules and were returned to their rightful place on the window after it was addressed with the condo owner.

July 8, 2008 at 1:20 PM

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