OK, so it's not a front-page issue, but . . .
I am most righteously PISSED-OFF.
In the L.A. Times Real Estate Section, there was a letter to the "Rent Watch" column which reads as follows:
The apartment complex I own has a state-of-the-art laundry room that includes dry-cleaning machines and appliances for ironing. There always has been a minimum age restriction of 21 on who can use this facility. A tenant is having her teenage son do the laundry while she is temporarily laid up with a broken leg. My concern is for the safety of other tenants as well as protecting my investment. How can I enforce the age restriction for the laundry room?
That is *so* BO-gus!
The reply was sort of wishy-washy, but sometimes when I get peeved, I feel the need to express myself, even if one person maybe half-heartedly reads it. So,
I am appalled by the mean-spiritedness of the letter writer in last Sunday's Real Estate section (of the Los Angeles Times) who was concerned because the teenage son of a neighbor laid up with a broken leg was doing the laundry in a "state-of-the-art" laundry room age-restricted to 21. I agree with your suggestion that 21 might be an overly restrictive age limitation, but I'm surprised you didn't call her on her attitude. First of all, a teenage boy who is willing to do his family's laundry when his mother is ill or temporarily disabled is likely to be a responsible young man. Second, the age restrictions are absurd. Using laundry equipment isn't, to coin a phrase, rocket science. All teenagers 15-16 (or younger) should be learning to do their own laundry, if not sometimes helping out parents who are ill or disabled. Perhaps the safety rules could be posted so they are unmistakably visible, and a younger teenager might be allowed to use the laundry room after personal instruction in the use of the machinery by an adult. Teenagers can get driver's licenses at 16 (albeit with restrictions for the first year); except when it comes to drinking, 18 year olds are considered adults with the right to vote and the right to join the military and operate for more dangerous and complex equipment than a laundry machine! Like state-of-the-art weaponry! If there is any evidence of this particular boy being destructive or careless of property, then the property owner who wrote in might have a cause for concern to be brought up with the teen's mother. Otherwise, she should reconsider an absurd age limit; how can she restrict legal adults from using laundry facilities? And she should consider allowing high-school-aged teens to do laundry after proper instruction, and I don't mean the equivalent of Driver's Training plus 50 hours with a licensed laundry user supervising!
Because of my own disability I've been thinking about moving to an apartment eventually so as not to have to tackle all the responsibilities of home ownership on my own. However, if this person's attitude and restrictiveness is typical of landlord/ladies these days, I think I'd be better off staying in my house. To have a rule that assumes that my 19-year old legal adult, university-going, licensed-to-drive daughter, who has been doing her own laundry for five years or so, would not be able to help out a disabled mother by doing her laundry is absurd, and I wonder if that strict a restriction (age 21!) is even legal.
Sincerely,
Atara Stein
In the L.A. Times Real Estate Section, there was a letter to the "Rent Watch" column which reads as follows:
The apartment complex I own has a state-of-the-art laundry room that includes dry-cleaning machines and appliances for ironing. There always has been a minimum age restriction of 21 on who can use this facility. A tenant is having her teenage son do the laundry while she is temporarily laid up with a broken leg. My concern is for the safety of other tenants as well as protecting my investment. How can I enforce the age restriction for the laundry room?
That is *so* BO-gus!
The reply was sort of wishy-washy, but sometimes when I get peeved, I feel the need to express myself, even if one person maybe half-heartedly reads it. So,
I am appalled by the mean-spiritedness of the letter writer in last Sunday's Real Estate section (of the Los Angeles Times) who was concerned because the teenage son of a neighbor laid up with a broken leg was doing the laundry in a "state-of-the-art" laundry room age-restricted to 21. I agree with your suggestion that 21 might be an overly restrictive age limitation, but I'm surprised you didn't call her on her attitude. First of all, a teenage boy who is willing to do his family's laundry when his mother is ill or temporarily disabled is likely to be a responsible young man. Second, the age restrictions are absurd. Using laundry equipment isn't, to coin a phrase, rocket science. All teenagers 15-16 (or younger) should be learning to do their own laundry, if not sometimes helping out parents who are ill or disabled. Perhaps the safety rules could be posted so they are unmistakably visible, and a younger teenager might be allowed to use the laundry room after personal instruction in the use of the machinery by an adult. Teenagers can get driver's licenses at 16 (albeit with restrictions for the first year); except when it comes to drinking, 18 year olds are considered adults with the right to vote and the right to join the military and operate for more dangerous and complex equipment than a laundry machine! Like state-of-the-art weaponry! If there is any evidence of this particular boy being destructive or careless of property, then the property owner who wrote in might have a cause for concern to be brought up with the teen's mother. Otherwise, she should reconsider an absurd age limit; how can she restrict legal adults from using laundry facilities? And she should consider allowing high-school-aged teens to do laundry after proper instruction, and I don't mean the equivalent of Driver's Training plus 50 hours with a licensed laundry user supervising!
Because of my own disability I've been thinking about moving to an apartment eventually so as not to have to tackle all the responsibilities of home ownership on my own. However, if this person's attitude and restrictiveness is typical of landlord/ladies these days, I think I'd be better off staying in my house. To have a rule that assumes that my 19-year old legal adult, university-going, licensed-to-drive daughter, who has been doing her own laundry for five years or so, would not be able to help out a disabled mother by doing her laundry is absurd, and I wonder if that strict a restriction (age 21!) is even legal.
Sincerely,
Atara Stein