Saturday, November 11, 2006

Open letter, which I might actually print and give, maybe

Dear Residents of House,
Your back gate is open. Every time I have passed by it over the past 2 or so weeks, it has appeared unsecured. I'm sure this has not escaped the notice of the neighborhood children, teenagers, homeless and drug dealers who travel through the alleys ever day.
Back before you moved in, the neighborhood teens used your back porch for G'd knows what. They loved to congregate in the alcove and I really couldn't see what they were up to, and I think that might have been the point. When I poked my head into the alcove I did not smell urine so it seems no one has started reusing it as a bathroom. Also I vaguely remember there was a fire. Small fire, no biggie, but enough to get the guy who was fixing your place up to put a security gate on the back. The same security gate you have elected to leave wide open.
Now you might be having some contracting work done and that's why it has been open, and you might actually lock it a night. It really isn't any my business of what happens to your property but I figure you should be aware of the risk you are incurring by leaving your gate unlocked and wide open.
Sincerely,
Mari


The reason why I'm eh about actually giving this letter to the occupants is because I think the house is a group house. As a former occupant of a group house, unless someone in it has a security and safety bug, residents can get lax about locking things. I had two roommates for whom remembering to lock the front door in our working class neighborhood on a busy street was just too hard. And I lived in another shared situation where over the summer someone walked in and stole all the brand new bikes (leaving my salvation army bike), not once, but twice.

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