Locked Doors, Part II

I have just returned as promised from the resident meeting.  

All in all, the entire situation was not even close to being as bad as I and others had anticipated.

It went well, considering that there was about to be an announcement made that the community room will NOT be opened on weekends. And the fact that there will be NO further discussing of this matter.

I think that there are several factors to attribute to the overall calmness of the matter when it was proposed by management.

#1- I think that those who were honestly and truly being labelled as the agitators of this situation, were not actually present at the meeting.

#2- We had the presence of the police department in the room with the rest of those who attended and members of staff. Of which they were there to discuss other matters.

#3- Once it was mentioned that this matter was closed. Those who were in attendance actually “understood” that.

But the meeting went on. There were some other things that made me roll my eyes, but it had nothing to do with the potential bomb that  could have gone off.

I am thankful that the bomb never went off though. I made a mention to staff that there still may be a little smoke afterwards from those who weren’t there. But of course, the words spoken “We will no longer be discussing this..” will be the norm from now on.

I did notice that the announcement regarding “coffee & donuts” were not included. I wonder why. But we move on to the next day, and take things day by day.

 

Locked Doors, Part I

Thursday, the 12th of July will probably go down in the history books. I don’t know if whether I am excited to watch the fireworks or if I will regret getting in the middle of everything. 

It will be time for our usual monthly resident meeting where I live, and the tension is already building. And so far for some it is not a pretty sight.

The long struggle between residents and what they perceive is their enemy, staff members of this apartment complex.

If you have kept up with me for any length of time, you know already that there’s been this battle about keeping the doors open to the community room on the weekends. This hasn’t been allowed to happen in AT LEAST five years. The community room was remodeled and since that point, its been closed on weekends.

My own feelings about the situation is that if it is closed, then it is closed. I’ve learned to deal with it throughout the years. Granted that sometimes my weekends can get extremely boring, but I have just dealt with it and found something else to do to fill my time.

But others are crying foul. They want the community room open for their own reasons. They keep hounding the fact that we are responsible enough to take  care of things on our own. For the very, very few times that it has been open on Saturdays (i.e. private parties) the ones that want it open for all time take advantage of it. But then the Board of Directors who take care of things have insisted that at least one member of staff be present if the community room is open.

Residents get totally psycho about it too. They cry out that we are all adults and that we don’t need a babysitter. But I’ve come to learn that the reasons for having one staff member present is for insurance reasons.

So about a month ago, we had learned that a member from the Board of Directors was going to come to our resident meeting and personally explain their decision to keep the community room closed. However, that doesn’t really work well. That would mean that someone from the Board would have to leave their job in the middle of the day and come talk to us. Some of them cannot afford that type of luxury.

To the Board of Directors, this entire idea has made them sick and tired. They said “NO” and they are frustrated to the max with the residents as to why they seem that they cannot understand that answer. For years and years they’ve repeated themselves to exhaustion.

And since none of the Board members are able to come in personally to the resident meeting, and they are no longer willing to discuss this issue with the residents, it has been put upon the shoulders of the apartment manager to squash the matter once and for all.

I remember making the suggestion that since nobody can come to the meeting, that they put something in writing such as an e-mail or an official letter stating that it came from the Board of Directors. But again, they are tired of dealing with it. Their answer is their answer and they will not bend.

I also learned this morning that the apartment manager got totally reemed by his boss about the matter. And he doesn’t like having that happen. So, I think (for him) that this is now a personal matter and he’s not going to mess with it any more. He is going to make his statements for himself and for the Board of Directors. And once he has finished that, he will no longer talk about it with anyone.

I expect there to be some kind of a reaction. I honestly do! It won’t change things, but it’s about to get VERY interesting around here. My feeling is that some are still not going to accept the Board’s answer and will keep fighting this until their last breath. It sounds as if staff members are going to stand firm, and once this “announcement” is made, they are going to walk away because the matter will then be closed. Will the residents finally “get it”? Or will staff members crumble?

So when I return from the meeting, I’ll be sure to post a follow-up blog.

Hang on to your hats people!! The storm is here!!!

 

 

One And Done

“Don’t cry because it’s over. Smile because it happened…” ~ Dr. Seuss

Very powerful words there. This coming from an author with the most expansive imagination and capable of entertaining small children. I’d still hate to find out who his illustrator was. I digress.

Life has its cycles, its chapters. With every beginning, must come an end. And of course they always say that in order to open one door, you must close another.

I believe that it is challenging enough without all of these fancy words being tossed around from all sides, only to say those words that you honestly never wanted to hear in the first place. Just because they are not telling you those words, doesn’t mean that they are not saying them.

I said farewell to a friend today. I knew that it was coming though. And it was not a matter of fight or disagreement. Their life simply came to the end of another chapter and so tomorrow morning, they will begin a new one. Unfortunately that meant without me.

Many people come and go throughout our lives. We meet the most wonderful and glorious of people and we also meet the scourge of what we consider to be the most horrible waste of space. Yet those whom we can hold on to for long periods of time, we able, willing, and happy consider them “friends”.

I wish my friend well in their newest adventures of life. And I hope that the prosper to the best of their ability. And who knows? Anything is possible. In this I truly believe. Yet the chances that I will meet up with them again, are next to nothing.

After a long pause in silence and staring at one another, they left and I watched them get into their vehicle and drive off until I was no longer to see their back bumper as it turned into just a tiny dot on the horizon as they climbed the hill along the street that they were driving.

It didn’t really hit me until I had returned home. Realizing that there would be no more phone calls, no more e-mails. I was absolutely overwhelmed. And this really got me thinking about certain things. Mainly the different types of relationships I have with each individual person that I know and have grown fond of.

In the past three years, I have met some incredible people. I say “met”, but not really. Simply put, several people that I have come to know, I have known them from being online. The person that left today was of no exception. Even though they did live closer to me than others whom I associate with frequently.

Now it is true, that I have actually “met” people who have been totally amazing and quite the asset to my life. These are the kinds of people that I would do anything for. We all have those kinds of people in our lives, I think. “Blind Faith” is what I call it.

There are those people that I have become more of acquainted with from online, and the joy that I felt on those days when I was able to meet them face to face. It really is a wonderful feeling in my book.

Yet as I sat upon my couch, staring up at the ceiling, each individual person came to mind that I have grown to know better and better throughout these past few years. What a solemn and frightful moment that would run through my mind, had I not done what I have done in the past to make these people all that more important to me in my life. Had I not known them as well as I do today. And the fearful illusion of actually coming to know these people even better, only to have either never met them in person at all, or met only one time in my life. As was the case with this friend who just left.

Over a year of e-mails and chats and lengthy phone calls led to what seemed to have been a friendship that had been going on for decades. And never once met in person. But I had that opportunity today to meet them for the first time, at least in person. We acted as if this fact was never a part of it. As if we had been around each other the entire time.

I had become the fortunate one today. To have been able to have that opportunity. And still, even though I should concentrate on the fun that was had earlier… I sat there, sighing.

My hands trembling in sync with my bottom lip when the visionary mind games came into place about whether or not I would meet those whom I truly want to meet deep down in my heart of hearts. And the terrible scare of this happening again with them after it was all said and done.

One… And… Done.

To be fair, I think that if I were to meet someone in person and things just didn’t go very well then I would have to agree that “yeah, maybe meeting again is not the right thing to do.” But who wants to think about that??? I sure don’t.

I want to be positive, yet firm, cautious, and open-minded. After all, who goes on a blind date in this day and age and even before you get there, you think to yourself, “Good grief, I hope I never meet this person ever again!”. I don’t think anyone does. If they have, I am sure that their doctors can lead them towards the correct medication and treatment that they are needing.

I have been there too many times in my life, where I have met someone (whether it be from online or not) and I never heard from them again. For me, its not a great feeling. I do not like it! I simply don’t do well in that kind of situation.

Even within the past 12 months, I have become rather commonly acquainted with some really fantastic people. Male, female. Tall, short. Old, young. All of them though: just wonderful as can be.

Some of you may remember in a previous post a few months ago about my trip to Houston. Those people were absolutely incredible. And the thought of never seeing them again, just isn’t an option for me tonight.

I have now developed a determination. I WILL see them again! It may not be tomorrow, it may not even be next month or even next year. But I WILL see them. And I’ve also determined that those whom I have endeared for so very long, and have not met yet, I shall see them as well. And with the exception of some unforeseen tragedy, I WILL see them again.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way. You bet your sweet bottom line there is! And I will find it. So here I come world of friends, colleagues, and acquaintances. If you will have me, I will be there!

And if it does come to the fact that I never really DO see these people again, it will only be because circumstances were as such that I could not control. And I will be happy that I have been able to do it the first time.

Look out world! Dambreaker is on the move!!