Long story short, yes it appeared my house and yard were filled with trash by a pack of "North End Crack Babies" (I read that descriptor somewhere online before and found it catchy. Given the variety and amount of paraphernalia left in my home I figure this might describe the youngsters who occupied my house... apologies if I'm jumping to conclusions).
There was damage, to the tune of 13k. I felt violated. Violated to the point that I almost took down my last two posts out of a feeling of shame because of the idea that "you get what you deserve". Maybe part of me figured I deserved this treatment for being bourgeois enough to own more than one home. Then there was the fear that prospective new tenants might stumble upon my blog and not be keen on renting a place where a bunch of youngsters apparently all watched the movie Trainspotting together and thought it'd be fun to act like destructive hobos.
But then I decided, no, this sort of thing needs more light shed on it if the problem ever is to be fixed. I've met and heard of many other landlords who have experienced this exact same type of thing. The damage is needless and expensive, and contributes to reducing the availability affordable housing as described in my previous posts this month.
So unfortunately I had to spend a few days picking up trash that wasn't mine. Trash that had been ripped open by dogs and rats, and included other peoples' used tampon applicators that I had to pick up off my frozen yard.
Fortunately I was able to use the entire experience as an exercise in the power of positive thinking, and managed to find all sorts of things to be grateful for. Mainly I'm grateful for the fact that there wasn't more willful damage done. Tenants, if you really want to screw over random mom'n'pop landlords apparently the way to do it is to grab hammers and start bashing up drywall and hot water tanks. I'm so grateful that our tenants didn't do this - other than the busted front window. The damage to my home was mostly due to foolishness rather than intent, but far worse has happened to other landlords in my neighbourhood. I'll admit it was my fear of worse happening to me that compelled me to start blogging about this experience.
I don't want to be a victim. So when I reminisce about January 2014, instead of trash, dog crap and assorted repairs, I'm choosing to remember the things that made me smile. Creative things left behind. Like the ewok-village-esque fence made of tree limbs that encircled a gathering place in the backyard. And the bright blue "Y.O.L.O" happily painted on my yellow basement wall indicating that at least for a minute someone had fun expressing themselves in my home.
I'll think about the call centre paystub I found and the irony that I wrote "What If Michelangelo Was A Telemarketer" in part as a commentary on the enslavement of so many members our millennial generation to low wage jobs.
It's occurred to me that these low wage jobs were largely created by the corporations that the millennials' boomer parents invested their retirement money in, thus siphoning away future economic opportunities from their offspring.
Investment funds like Crombie REIT (the actual topic of this post, yes, I'm going to get there soon).
Rather than post more sad pics of my house on my blog, I'm going to save them for the Tenancy Board Hearing and likely small claims court. All except for this one, which I feel sums up the overall message I got from the former residents of my home:
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| A message left by tenants in the laundry area of our rental home. Somehow the smiley face softens the impact of the words |
I don't think the message in this photo was intended for me personally but if it was in response I'd just like to say: why? I'm on your side. ps- I'd appreciate the return of the antique mirror that was stolen from above my fireplace it had sentimental value to me. Yes yes I've since learned don't every leave anything of sentimental value in a rental home.
In any case I would like to personally lob the message in the above photo forward to the people at Crombie REIT. Why? Because apparently they decided it would be a good idea to double the rent of 2 independently run food businesses in Scotia Square Mall, forcing them out in favour of more profitable large-chain-tenants like Subway.
Check out what they've done, described in today's Coast article.
And also, in today's Herald article.
Ha! What was I just talking about 2 posts ago? I think I'll quote myself:
I wish more people with good jobs and savings would quit dumping their money into mutual funds or other investments where they have no idea how their money is actually being spent. Maybe their investment money is being spent cutting down rainforests in Borneo, displacing Orangutans to grow palm oil. Maybe the money is going to some big corporation with bad ethics. Maybe the money will, in an ironic twist of fate, somehow circle back around and be part of the reason the investor gets laid off, eg, via offshoring of jobs.
Yes, maybe people are investing in soulless corporations like Crombie REIT which has chosen to prey on small, indie food establishments in the name of higher profits for their investors.
How do we stop this?
We need to spread the word, people, and get investors who have invested in Crombie REIT to pull out all of their money ASAP. And then, quick, somebody with the know-how and a functional moral compass, start an "Ethical REIT" that supports small businesses. I described this idea briefly in this blog post last year.
Let's do it! Let's see if this idea will work! Let's test the hypothesis that money is power and dollars are ballots with which we cast our votes for the world we want to see! And as we do this, let's all bombard Crombie REIT's contact page telling them exactly what we're up to:
http://www.crombiereit.ca/en/contact_us.aspx
We can do this!
Yes!
If you don't believe me, listen to Iyanla Vanzant, she knows. I've posted this video on my blog before but it is the perfect ending for this post. (the youtube poster disabled the embedded video feature so ya gotta click the link to see it).
And while we're at it, Crombie REIT is owned by Sobey's so everyone who is disturbed by this corporation's actions could just quit shopping there, out of solidarity with the small business owners who have been treated so unjustly. Not everyone has money for investments, but we all buy groceries!
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