“We’ll leave it in better shape than it is now,” the new renter told me six months, one week and five days ago. I thought, “That’s going to be pretty hard to do considering the fresh paint, mopped floors and scrubbed counters.” Based on what his previous landlady had said, though, I thought it might be possible. According to her, “When the water heater quit working, he went out and bought a new one and put it in and he wouldn’t let me pay him.” Now, that’s the kind of folks we like to have living in our apartments.

And so, we optimistically rented to the sixty-five-year-old truck driver and his forty-year-old son. They always paid their rent on time, until the last month, which they didn’t pay at all. Their water heater never went out but they did, just past the end of their lease. And they left just a little more than memories but it wasn’t too bad. Pop and Junior did no damage to the walls or other components.

There were a few items left in the bathroom cabinet and in the refrigerator (nothing spoiled) and on the kitchen counter. The floors had not been swept and the living room carpet showed no signs of vacuuming–in the previous six months. Most aggravating was their initiative in sealing around the window air conditioning unit, using a marine grade butyl-silicone compound with an elasticity rating approaching that of a Wiley Coyote Launch Device. Eventually, with a utility knife and chisel, we’ll be able to remove the AC. Hopefully, we’ll still have a functioning window once we’ve accomplished that feat.

So, that and a few hours of wiping, sweeping, mopping and cleaning will have the place ready for new occupants. Of course, we’d like for them to be folks that show even greater care for the place. Might be that’s how God feels about the next generation that inhabits this planet. I wonder if he ever sighs and says, “I wonder what they’ll tear up next?”

H. Arnett
11/11/09