Rich People Are Weird, Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Act Like A House-Elf

Well, this was certainly a change of scenery.  The last maintenance job I did, I was ran off the property by gun wielding thugs in Section 8 apartments downtown.  I ended up writing three blogs about it.  So last week they sent me to the Pierhouse Channelside Luxury Apartments.  Here's the view:

Let me come straight out with it.  Rich people are weird.  There were a few rules that are considered standard there, and not found anywhere else.

1.  Don’t look at the residents. 

It seems the residents do not like to be looked at.  I guess my psychic abilities have the power to creep into their minds..... but only if I look directly into their souls.

2.  Don’t talk to the residents unless spoken to first.

...... Yes.... Mammie?

 

3.  Do not use the restroom in the office.  Use the ones by the pool area. 

 

I guess the whole, “separate but equal” thing still flies down here.

4.  Do not walk through the pool area, even if you have to go to the restroom.  Residents don’t like the hired help being around them when they are trying to concentrate while “pooling.” 

 

I should be a good house-elf.  The sign of a good house-elf is that he/she does all the housework without being seen.

 

So if I really have to pee, I can’t go in the office, but I can’t go through the pool area to get to the restroom I am supposed to go to?  I think I am a touch confused.  I mean, I could make like a dog, and go on a tree, but there are cameras everywhere, and I don’t want to end up on the internet as, “Sick weirdo thinks he’s a dog.”

 

 

Now, for a few musings to my porter co-workers that are sent to the Pierhouse.  There are a few things they should know if they are sent there in the future.

1.  You need a key to get anywhere. 

 

The whole place is in lockdown.  You cannot get into any part of the building without a key.  Which is fine.  But sometimes they need a few hours to track down a key for you.  They just don’t grow on trees you know.

2.  The dogs are a lot like the owners.

 

This is kind of weird.  Not bad, but just weird.  Usually any apartment complex I go to the dogs will come up and want to slobber all over me.  That’s fine.  Since I am dealing with garbage most of the time, I smell like garbage, and the dogs just love that!  So I play with the dogs, we rub each other bellies, and we all have a good time. 

 

But at the Pierhouse, the dogs ignore me.  I’ve never seen anything like it.  They just walk on by.  True story, I was on my hands and knees unwrapping a garden hose, and a resident with a boxer (the dog, not the fighter) came by.  The boxer gave me one sniff and just walked on by.  I was hoping for at least a face lick or something.  But nothing.  Again, it’s not a bad thing, just a weird thing.

3.  In three days I spent a total of 18 hours moving dirt downhill with a garden hose.  Seriously.  The parking garage needed “cleaned.”  So I figured I was going to take a pressure washer, and get rid of the oily spots.  No.  I was moving the dirt on the ground downhill with a garden hose.  I asked, “Why can’t I just use a blower?  I could knock it out in 20 minutes.”  I was told, “The residents don’t like dirt on their vehicles.  The blower would stir up too much dust and dirt.” 

 

If the residents don’t like dirt they are living on the wrong planet.  But what do I know?  I only have a History degree and not a science degree.  (Sidenote:  I couldn’t pass the chemistry.)

 

But let’s break down the water usage. 

3 gallons a minute X 60 minutes = 180 gallons an hour.

180 gallons X 18 hours = 3240 gallons of water.

Personally, I think that’s an awful waste of water just to move some dirt around.  And that was just one parking garage.  There is another one that needs to be “cleaned.”

4.  And speaking of the garage, the next time I am told to clean it, I want to update my life insurance.  It’s not so bad when I am on the 3rd story.  However, on Friday I was standing right in front of the garage entrance with a water hose praying that I would not be ran over by a yuppie assault vehicle. 

 

Those people were flying in and out of the garage around a blind curve.  I was sure they would find my corpse with a backwards Mercedes Benz  or Lexus logo smashed into my face.  I mean, can you imagine me lying in a coffin with that damned logo on my face?  They can’t spackle a corpse.  That logo is going to be there no matter what.

 

I was hoping that they would have a “Men Working” sign, but I guess they figured I wasn’t working that hard.

 

 

 

So that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.  I only ended up working there three days.  They had already hired someone permanently, and were waiting on the paperwork and drug test to come back.  I was just temping until then.  So I will be off to my next assignment.  Maybe it will be crazy enough to write about?

Hood Problems: Part 2, Retaliation

Here is Part 1:

http://angjellockheart.blogspot.com/2015/06/hood-problems-part-1-strangers-with.html

This past week I was assigned to perform maintenance duties at an apartment complex in the hood/ghetto.  Yesterday, I was told to get off the property, and just leave by my staffing supervisor.  This is what happened.

I started work on Tuesday at the Oakhurst Apartments in Tampa.  When I was picking up trash I saw a repairman replacing a window.  I later learned it had been shot out.  On Wednesday when I was running heavy equipment a shootout happened at the complex.

I'm not sure why there was beef, but this was the fourth time there were shots fired at the complex.  However, this time someone shot back at the car that drove by.  It seems that there were ongoing problems between the guy who lived there, and whoever kept driving by and shooting at him and/or the complex. 

Anyway, the security cameras around the apartment complex caught video of the guy shooting back at the car.  Needless to say, he ended up at the Hillsborough County Jail that day (Wednesday.)  That pissed off his homies, and they blamed the management and workers for "snitching" the shooter out. 

Now, myself and my fellow staffer Robert, had nothing to do with this.  We were both running heavy equipment at the time of the shooting, and never heard the shots.  However, in "The Hood," a prison mentality takes place, and it doesn't really matter if we had anything to do with it or not.  We were considered "snitches."  And in prison, snitches get stiches. 

On Wednesday night I sent a e-mail to my staffing supervisor a list of my concerns.  While I was out working on Thursday she called me and said that I could leave the property if I wanted, and she would back me up.  I told her I would stick it out the rest of the week.

However, in-between that phone call and the next time I talked to my co-staffer Robert, something serious happened.  A car pulled up with friends of the guy who was in jail, and they started smack talking and making threats.  They were going to get even with the people who snitched out their guy, and since Robert and I were the most visual workers there, we were first on their list. 

Robert got on the phone with our boss, and let her know what was going down.  He found me, and said we needed to go, now.  Just drop our stuff, don't worry about getting our paperwork signed.  Just get out.  Since Robert took the bus, I told him to just jump in my car, and I would drive him home.  And that's what we did.  Afterwards, I called my boss, and let her know that we were out of there, and that I drove Robert home, and we were both safe. 

I have to say, I am really impressed with my boss.  She knew she would take flak from those above and below her, as well as the apartment complex manager.  And I also have to give her credit as she said she was not going to send anyone else back there.  Period. 

It almost seems surreal to write this story out.  What we encountered showed a complete lack of respect for human life.  They get mad so they shoot at people, and even after the police are called, they still want to shoot at people who had nothing to do with their situation.  It's really beyond belief.  This incident was just the pickle on top of a crap sandwich that was working there.  There were so many irritating things that happened during those three days, I am just flabbergasted.  All I know is that, the next time I am offered an assignment, I am going to check the map a little closer before I accept it.  I don't want to end up in the middle of a war zone. 

Hey Porter! AKA, Adrian, Elite Work Guy!

Right now, I am working as a porter for a staffing company.  I get sent around to different properties, and do whatever needs to be done.  It's not a mentally hard job, but I do end up walking a lot of miles during the day.

Today was a strange day at work.  I was sent to a property I had never been to.  When I got there in the morning I noticed another staffer had showed up.  This has happened before when I did a clean out of an apartment.  Back then, it took a couple of us to clean it out.

Well, things got off to a crazy start.  The apartment manager sent this other staffer home.  She said that she looked for him all day yesterday, and couldn't find him.  She also couldn't see any work that he had done.  She basically accused him of hiding out, and skipping work.  She said she called the office and told them she didn't want him back.  She didn't know why they didn't tell him yesterday not to show up today. 

He didn't take that too well.  He left the office, came back with his paperwork, and she signed it.  He left, and then came back again.  I was worried that he might do something violent.  He yelled at her, "You know what?  I "like" your management style!"  He did say that very sarcastically.  He then left.

So I didn't know what to expect.  I thought I might diffuse any situation like that by giving her my cell phone number.  Therefore if she wanted to know where I was at any time, I was only a phone call away.

I started on trash cans and garbage.  I ended up meeting up with the maintenance supervisor.  I helped him with some garbage and cleaning out an apartment that was being refurbished.  I also took a leaf blower around the property to clean up all the leaves that were everywhere.  The supervisor, Eric, told me he liked my work ethic. 

After lunch I started the tedious task of taking apart the lights around the complex, and cleaning them out.  I had to do all three floors, so I was dragging this fifty pound ladder all over the place.  That's when something strange happened.  Every time Eric saw me he was surprised at my pace.  He was shocked that I had made it as far as I did.  By the end of the day I had cleaned every single light cover in the complex.  I managed to do that in four hours. 

Let me tell you my shoulder was hurting from dragging that ladder all over the place.  I made sure I took some Aleeve when I got home.  I was glad to put that ladder up at the end of the day. 

So when it came time for me to sign out, Eric and Elsa, the property manager were ecstatic.  Eric said in all the years he had been doing that, I was the best worker he ever had.  Honestly, I was just aiming for "pretty good" or a "B+."  I wasn't expecting that.  Elsa even gave me a high five despite me being pretty dirty.  She was so happy with me, that she asked to come work at the complex on Saturday, in addition to the Friday I was also scheduled to work.  They already had a few things lined up on both days to knock out.

I've always known my family had a good work ethic.  What I didn't know was just how bad some other people were.  Eric was telling me how some guys were so slow.  He didn't want to ride anyone hard, but most of the guys who came through there were just damn lazy.  He was so happy with me, he was trying to see about finding some full time work for me within the company.  I should mention that the company that owned the property I worked at that day also owned a number of other properties. 

So I will head back there for the next two days.  It will be good to get a bit of work in, and some money in my bank account.  When I look back at today, the funny thing I will remember is that, I don't think I worked that hard.  I mean, I've had other days where I worked much harder than that.  I guess I'm just an elite work guy.