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COMMENTARY
The
day of August 10th exposed both my roommate and I to a situation
we realized we would have to contend with for at least one year
of our college lives. By the time the evening came, we were annoyed,
frustrated, disappointed, and angry, and we both knew that thousands
of other students were feeling the same way.
What caused this sudden onset of irriation? I have to admit, it
started off slowly, but as the day progressed we became more and
more irrational.
Most
of the blame, though, could be placed on our neglegent and irresponsbile
rental agency - August 10 was our much anticipated move-in day.
Our first problem arose when we were informed that they only had
one key to give us, and we shouldnÕt get a duplicate made because
the locks would eventually get changed after we called a locksmith
and made an appointment. We found this to be a bit odd, but didntÕt
think it was a big deal; weÕll just keep the door unlocked for a
few days, we thought.
As we drove up to our apartment complex, our cars packed and pulling
U-Hauls, the first thing we noticed was a huge pile of garbage sitting
directly in front of the windows of the bottom-story apartments,
the exact apartments we were moving into. I guess this could have
proven beneficial, had we needed an old, deteriorating couch with
spots of mold, or a kitchen table missing half of its legs. Needless
to say, this prompted our second call to our rental company, who
promised the immediate removal of the junk by the next day.
Glancing
into the kitchen, we noticed the counters sloped downwards drastically,
presumably from water damage, making the bottom cupboards unusuable
for storing food or dishes because of the rotting wood. The folding
doors to the closet where our washer and dryer are located were
open, and when we tried to close them, we found that they were to
remain open permenately, since they were no longer on the track.
Our
bedrooms didnÕt reveal any catastophic problems; there were no longer
doors on my closet - they had been replaced by something that resembled
a screen that you could pull shut. I had no reason to complain,
however, because my roommateÕs closet doors were experiencing the
same problem as those in the kitchen.
By far, our biggest complaint was with the bathroom. The bottom
of the bathtub was completely covered in black, fuzzy mold. It was
so thick you couldnÕt tell that the tub was supposed to be white.
The shower head pounded water down so hard that it was actually
painful, and our skin would be a bright pink color after the ordeal.
We probably called our rental agency at least five times just in
that first day. After much complaining and many repair requests,
some of the work was completed, and it only took them about four
days to remove the lovely scenery from directly outside of our living
room window. IÕm very grateful that these problems were eventually
taken care of, but the fact that most of these problems even existed
in the first place is ridiculous.
As
students, we all know too well that we are very limited to affordable
housing from aimiable and reliable landlords, which isnÕt fair.
We only spend about four years here, and on top of our other worries
and stress we should not have to struggle to have a decent place
to live. This isnÕt to say that all rental companies and landlords
are hard to work with. We were fortunate enough to have a wonderful
landlord this summer, but I think a majority of them are unconcerned
about their studentsÕ welfare and only concerned about getting their
rent money. This concept is probably just a fact of life that no
one likes and people everywhere have to cope with and accept, but
I certaintly do not care to deal with it when IÕm supposed to be
experiencing the best years of my life.
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