I finally got ahold of the Employee Assistance people. Either I had jotted down the wrong number or it was given to me incorrectly. Which was a relief. I was getting seriously worried there with this cruise ship survey business. Anyway they gave me the name of a local lawyer. Guess what? He can't take my case because guess who he represents! It would be a conflict of interest and a breach of ethics. I'm sure glad someone has ethics around here. I felt like saying what he could do with his ethics. Since you have to give your name I am sure that he was on the phone to California not five minutes after we hung up saying guess who called my office about a tenant-landlord issue involving your park.
So I called the Employee Assistance people back up and said, great, you just referred me to a lawyer who represents the very people I am having problems with! So they have set me up with another and I will see him on Wednesday. He wanted to know if I wanted him to write a letter (for a fee, of course). No, I don't know what I want you to do. I want to know what my options are other than caving in and paying the extra money. Apparently this is too much to ask. I have asked my friend from the advocacy group to go with me because I think I am going to need some backup here.
I get home and one of the kids from down the street wants to know if he can rake my leaves. I tell him yes, hand him the rake and tell him I have to do some work on the computer and please don't disturb me. He seems to think that this means knock on my door every five minutes and ask questions. He wants to know did I hear about the manager? What about the manager? (Other than the fact that no one can get a hold of him?) "He's a SEX OFFENDER!" the kid shouts in glee. Where did you hear that? Oh, so-and-so told my parents.
Now I don't know if it's true that this guy is a sex offender. I don't even know his last name. My neighbors, the ones who claim not to be computer-literate, who are "sick" of all this drama surrounding the electric overcharging (they are the ones who got the $600 bill--so they claim--not me!), they can't speak at the town meetings like I can, etc., etc., they can't do a lot of things, but they can get a hold of this guy's last name and look it up to see if he has a record. And now they are spreading it all over the park. The one human that we do have some (if limited) contact with who represents the owners, and what are they doing? Way to go guys! NO WONDER nobody can get in touch with him. NO WONDER he won't give out his last name. NO WONDER he won't stick around. Have these braniacs ever thought he could sue them for slander? "He shouldn't be here," the kid went on, "it's right across from the school." Don't worry, kid, he's not--and that's the problem. "If he is a sex offender," I said, "he has served his time. We do not know for a fact that he is, and that is a very serious charge that nobody should be repeating without proof. What we need to be concerned with here--the ONLY issue here--is the fact that management is ripping off tenants, including your mom and dad. I am trying to do something about that, and I need everyone's help."
I mean, I am pissed! I have gone through the trouble to get outside advocates involved and one woman has taken the time and trouble to meet with these people and help them out and all they want to do is play fricking games. These people are so ignorant that they don't realize exactly what is being offered to them and that these kinds of allies are hard to find. They'd rather spend their time persecuting someone for something that happened a long time ago (if it even happened at all!). It would be one thing if this guy were still doing whatever he was accused of, but as far as I can tell, from the most reliable information I have, he is not. Supposedly he is sneaking around at night peeking in people's windows. Well, I am a female living alone so I should have the most to fear being the most likely target, and I have seen no evidence that he's come around my house. In fact, I'd like to have him come around my house. I have some questions to ask him!
Well, they are on their own. Whether they take advantage of the help that this woman is able to offer or fritter it away is their business. I am not playing go-between any longer. I have no time or energy for rumor-monging, especially destructive rumor-monging that undermines our chances of winning on this particular issue. These are not people I need on my side!
No wonder the owners can take such advantage of us!
So I called the Employee Assistance people back up and said, great, you just referred me to a lawyer who represents the very people I am having problems with! So they have set me up with another and I will see him on Wednesday. He wanted to know if I wanted him to write a letter (for a fee, of course). No, I don't know what I want you to do. I want to know what my options are other than caving in and paying the extra money. Apparently this is too much to ask. I have asked my friend from the advocacy group to go with me because I think I am going to need some backup here.
I get home and one of the kids from down the street wants to know if he can rake my leaves. I tell him yes, hand him the rake and tell him I have to do some work on the computer and please don't disturb me. He seems to think that this means knock on my door every five minutes and ask questions. He wants to know did I hear about the manager? What about the manager? (Other than the fact that no one can get a hold of him?) "He's a SEX OFFENDER!" the kid shouts in glee. Where did you hear that? Oh, so-and-so told my parents.
Now I don't know if it's true that this guy is a sex offender. I don't even know his last name. My neighbors, the ones who claim not to be computer-literate, who are "sick" of all this drama surrounding the electric overcharging (they are the ones who got the $600 bill--so they claim--not me!), they can't speak at the town meetings like I can, etc., etc., they can't do a lot of things, but they can get a hold of this guy's last name and look it up to see if he has a record. And now they are spreading it all over the park. The one human that we do have some (if limited) contact with who represents the owners, and what are they doing? Way to go guys! NO WONDER nobody can get in touch with him. NO WONDER he won't give out his last name. NO WONDER he won't stick around. Have these braniacs ever thought he could sue them for slander? "He shouldn't be here," the kid went on, "it's right across from the school." Don't worry, kid, he's not--and that's the problem. "If he is a sex offender," I said, "he has served his time. We do not know for a fact that he is, and that is a very serious charge that nobody should be repeating without proof. What we need to be concerned with here--the ONLY issue here--is the fact that management is ripping off tenants, including your mom and dad. I am trying to do something about that, and I need everyone's help."
I mean, I am pissed! I have gone through the trouble to get outside advocates involved and one woman has taken the time and trouble to meet with these people and help them out and all they want to do is play fricking games. These people are so ignorant that they don't realize exactly what is being offered to them and that these kinds of allies are hard to find. They'd rather spend their time persecuting someone for something that happened a long time ago (if it even happened at all!). It would be one thing if this guy were still doing whatever he was accused of, but as far as I can tell, from the most reliable information I have, he is not. Supposedly he is sneaking around at night peeking in people's windows. Well, I am a female living alone so I should have the most to fear being the most likely target, and I have seen no evidence that he's come around my house. In fact, I'd like to have him come around my house. I have some questions to ask him!
Well, they are on their own. Whether they take advantage of the help that this woman is able to offer or fritter it away is their business. I am not playing go-between any longer. I have no time or energy for rumor-monging, especially destructive rumor-monging that undermines our chances of winning on this particular issue. These are not people I need on my side!
No wonder the owners can take such advantage of us!
