Let me copy in an email I just got:
My neighbor just came over to see me. She took her little boy to the playground behind the pool and was shocked to see the amount of "condoms including wrappers", baggies, remnants of illegal activities and trash. It appears that there may be teenagers hanging out at the playground, smoking and having "fun". I know you can't patrol the playground, but if you can advise the others in court 1 (it's the closest) to maybe keep an eye out to alert the police if they see any activity around that area at night.
Let me add the following:
The playground in question, while it is near our community property, does not belong to us. It belongs to the apartments that are nearby. It's strange, but, as I understand it, a deal was cut some time back for our HOA to sell land to the developer of the apartments to create enough of a buffer zone between their buildings and our property line. Beats me.
And, what I liked best was that the wrappers were found. Because, when I know I'm having sex and need a condom, I put it on in the morning, throw the wrapper out in the bathroom trash and then walk around with my disk wrapped. Hell, I'm wearing a condom right now!
Also, I like how she knows that we can't patrol the playground at night, but wants us to do so anyway. Sure. Let me get right on that. Let me get up in the middle of the night, get dressed and walk over to a piece of land that does not belong to me so I can tell the kids there not to have sex. If you ever saw this "playground" you'd be more than appalled. JewelrySlut and I don't let Shmuppie anywhere near it. The little playground toys are all rusted and gross. Now, the tennis courts are not in much better shape, but at least they're mostly flat and open.
I give up. I swear, the more I serve as El Jefe, the more I think we may need to move.
Allow me to paste in this email, also received today:
Second, I heard that one of the tenants that lives with the Rivera's banished a gun to the daughter and the police were called. Also, I heard that the mother of one of the kids that plays with those kids won't let them go back due to the fact that drugs are being run from that unit. It was told to someone that she knew for a fact that they dealt with drugs.
Anyone want to parse out that paragraph?
"banished a gun to the daughter" Tell me, how does one "banish a gun"? I mean, I can't even come up with anything there.
And, as for the 2nd sentence...well, I'm at a loss.
The last sentence..."dealt with drugs". Again, what?
The first email came from a board member, and the 2nd from a board member who also happens to be our Treasurer.
I really do want to give up sometimes and just move to another house. But, we like our house, and our court is really in good shape. All the people get along and while we do have more than our fair share of black people, things are OK.
Oh, that offended you? Well, last week, someone in the 2nd court went to CrazyAnne's house (CrazyAnne is another board member) because she wanted to get a count on how many black people lived in her court. She's afraid that the neighborhood is getting too black.
This is what I deal with every day.
Back to the house. Apparently, our court already went through its troubles. A few years back, there were several rental units and there were a lot of problems with crime and drugs. But, these days, while not many of us talk to one another, things are good. It's very quiet and the kids who live in the area are mostly well-behaved. The house could be nicer, but we're getting there. Plus, the local elementary school is one of the better ones in Wake County; the kind of school that kids from outside the district or zone or whatever it is, try to get moved into. So, Shmuppie would be in a good school through the 5th grade or so. But I honestly can't see us staying put for that long.
I mean, if we wanted to pay some monthly bills, we could go have a lovely home up in Wake Forest. Plus, it would put a little more distance between us and the parents.
Wow...I just spent 20 minutes looking at houses in Holly Springs. That would be even farther away. They have nice big townhouses there. I think I'll go home and tell JewelrySlut that we're moving. It s not like she reads this thing or anything.
She does?
I may be in trouble.