Gravity.

An encounter yesterday left me bewildered and a little saddened. I have to unleash this incident out of my soul so I can be free of it.

I hate to be redundant, but for my new readers or to those that don't follow me on Twitter, I am a property manager for two apartment complexes in the St. Louis area. Anyway, everyday, I come in contact with many people from various walks of life. I love the type of job I have because it allows me flexibility with my schedule and I also get to incorporate my knowledge (and degrees)  in both PR and Human Services with my tenants and prospective residents. Anyway, this entry is not about my gig, but about something that so left a bad taste in my mouth that I must share it with you.

I have a young resident that is a single mother. For the sake of anonymity, let's call her Renee. Now Renee is a stripper in a bar in East St. Louis. Of course I know this because I had to verify her rental history as well as her employment status and income. Anywho, that is not really a big deal. I have residents that do all types of things, and as long as they can document their income and pass a thorough criminal background and credit check, and make three times the amount of rent, they will be approved. So Renee has been living in my complex for almost two years. She pays her rent on time for the most part and I don't hear much from her which I like. In any event, her neighbor informed me a few weeks ago that Renee had a dog in her apartment, a rottweiler which is against her lease. We do allow pets BUT they must be under 20 pounds and the resident must pay a pet fee security deposit of $350.00. They also must pay an extra $25 per month pet rent and submit accurate and up to date health records on the dog and we do not allow specific breeds such as pit bulls or rots. So when this neighbor came to me and told me Renee had a dog, I had to do some investigating.

I tried to track down Renee for a few weeks and I also tried to call her and she was dodging my calls. I finally saw her yesterday while I was walking the grounds and cornered her in a very professional way. I asked her if she had a dog because there had been a complaint and she instantly got on the defensive. I began to tell her that if she had a dog and it was not on the approved pet breed list, she would have to get rid of it or we would be forced to terminate a herlease letter and  find somewhere else to stay.

That is where, my friends, it got hectic. She began cursing me out (I won't repeat it because you all know the types of words that are used in this situation and they aren't very nice). But basically she called me all kinds of bitches and hoes and whatnot. Very loudly. Trying to keep my cool, I warned her that I wasn't going to finish the conversation if she didn't calm down and stop disrespecting me with all of this foolishness and she had the nerve to tell me, "Well, you think you are all that but you ain't. With all that white girl talk."

Now the old me, the old immature reckless me, would've gotten physical and would've connected my fist to her face but I had to keep composure. Everything was in my court. I had the upper hand because I could terminate the lease just off of that and go about my business and let the Sheriff serve her eviction papers by Monday. But I tried reasoning with her because I knew she was young and dumb and misguided and not quite thinking clearly about what she was doing. I asked Renee once more if she had a dog and she told me she was dogsitting. I told her to have the dog removed within 24 hours or my attorney would file papers in the courts for posession of the property.

Her response.

"Bitch, I wish you would."

It was then that I walked away. Walked back to my office to notify my attorneys that I needed them to file posession paperwork STAT. What is wrong with this girl, and so many others that think the world owes them something? Thinks that everyone is against them? Girls who don't know how to have a professional conversation without getting heated and using profanity? Girls who's souls are so lost and they use the pain they are experiencing to inflict pain on others? We as Black women get pulled down every day by society and the media enough. Why do we do this to ourselves?

I have a business to protect so I have to do what I have to do. I guess Renee is just another Lost One. Chalk it up again to the game.