(no subject)
I just received an e-mail from my grandmother, which is a nice way to begin the day. The contents, however, have me shaking with pure, sweet rage. It's been a long time since I've been so angry that if I were able to get the neck of the offender between my fingers I would squeeze until they touched.
My grandparents have been through a lot this year. They're on a fixed income now that my grandfather has retired permanently. He's been sick a lot lately, something to do with blood counts, and my grandmother has had to drive 200 miles a day for the past 5 weeks, and their house was destroyed when all those hurricanes hit last year (still standing, but no roof, etc). Thankfully they weren't living in the house at the time, but it was actually a little worse than if they had been because they were trying to sell it and of course the damage took it off the market. I realized as I got older that these two people are as flawed as everyone else I've ever met, but the difference is that they're never directed any of that toward me. My grandparents, on both sides, are among only a small group of people with whom I associate no awkwardness, no guessing, none of the weird mistrust I always felt for adults and still feel for most people. Which brings me to the point and explains why I'm pissed off right now.
It turns out they finally got the house fixed back up and ready to sell again. With expenses from my grandfather's illness climbing, they took this as extremely good news. Then, the realtor messed up and gave the key to a prospective buyer who hadn't paid any money yet. One of those "Well, you've signed everything except the check, you obviously intend to move in, we'll give you the key early" kinda deals. It was some dude and a couple of kids. My grandparents found out after a few days that the guy was already living there and called the realtor about getting the money. The realtor called the guy, who had changed his phone number and the locks on the house, then refused to answer the door when they went knocking. He had heavily curtained the windows and the yard was already a mess after less than a week. Legally, the sheriff had to give the guy a bunch of notice (8 days in Florida) before he could forcibly evict him, since he had already signed the papers and the realtor had willingly forked over the key. Since the key wasn't stolen, the guy wasn't squatting. Well, when the guy found out he was being removed, he went apeshit. He left in the middle of the night, but not before stealing all the furniture and appliances (including the fridge and washer&dryer), the ceiling fans, all the doors and toilets, as well as leaving garbage and feces piled in every room. The guy took a shit in my grandma's living room. And knowing my grandparents, I imagine they probably gave the guy a fair chance to just be cool and work everything out, attributing it all to an unfortunate misunderstanding. I know they gave the guy a while to cough up the money before they called the sheriff. There is absolutely no reason he had to do any of this.
I'll probably never meet this person. The chances are pretty decent that we'll never even be in the same state. He doesn't know it, but he's lucky, and it's going to mark the end of his ability to chew solid food if his luck ever changes.
My grandparents have been through a lot this year. They're on a fixed income now that my grandfather has retired permanently. He's been sick a lot lately, something to do with blood counts, and my grandmother has had to drive 200 miles a day for the past 5 weeks, and their house was destroyed when all those hurricanes hit last year (still standing, but no roof, etc). Thankfully they weren't living in the house at the time, but it was actually a little worse than if they had been because they were trying to sell it and of course the damage took it off the market. I realized as I got older that these two people are as flawed as everyone else I've ever met, but the difference is that they're never directed any of that toward me. My grandparents, on both sides, are among only a small group of people with whom I associate no awkwardness, no guessing, none of the weird mistrust I always felt for adults and still feel for most people. Which brings me to the point and explains why I'm pissed off right now.
It turns out they finally got the house fixed back up and ready to sell again. With expenses from my grandfather's illness climbing, they took this as extremely good news. Then, the realtor messed up and gave the key to a prospective buyer who hadn't paid any money yet. One of those "Well, you've signed everything except the check, you obviously intend to move in, we'll give you the key early" kinda deals. It was some dude and a couple of kids. My grandparents found out after a few days that the guy was already living there and called the realtor about getting the money. The realtor called the guy, who had changed his phone number and the locks on the house, then refused to answer the door when they went knocking. He had heavily curtained the windows and the yard was already a mess after less than a week. Legally, the sheriff had to give the guy a bunch of notice (8 days in Florida) before he could forcibly evict him, since he had already signed the papers and the realtor had willingly forked over the key. Since the key wasn't stolen, the guy wasn't squatting. Well, when the guy found out he was being removed, he went apeshit. He left in the middle of the night, but not before stealing all the furniture and appliances (including the fridge and washer&dryer), the ceiling fans, all the doors and toilets, as well as leaving garbage and feces piled in every room. The guy took a shit in my grandma's living room. And knowing my grandparents, I imagine they probably gave the guy a fair chance to just be cool and work everything out, attributing it all to an unfortunate misunderstanding. I know they gave the guy a while to cough up the money before they called the sheriff. There is absolutely no reason he had to do any of this.
I'll probably never meet this person. The chances are pretty decent that we'll never even be in the same state. He doesn't know it, but he's lucky, and it's going to mark the end of his ability to chew solid food if his luck ever changes.