Apartment Maintenance
1
Harrison Klein
English 100
J. Garrett
2/06/14
Word Count:1340
Apartment Maintenance I stood as far away as I possibly could while my dad cut the pipe; dark brown sludge and waste spewed everywhere, landing on every recipient within distance. Never in my life did I look around and seriously realize my good fortune. Becoming conscious of the differences in my way of life compared to those who live in low income neighborhoods did not occur to me until I had the experience of managing and maintaining an apartment complex. Indeed, it was a maintenance issue at my father’s apartment complex that opened my eyes to another problem, a social and economic problem. The plumbing in one of the apartments had backed up and water would not drain properly, backups; the problem required immediate attention. Plumbing repairs are very demanding and often take all day to fix. The task required to run a
“snake” cable throughout the pipes in an attempt to remove the waste that had accumulated. Finally, we found where the blockage built up, resulting in us cutting the metal pipe. After we completed the horrendous clean up of the waste covered floor, the dirty job had been completed and we could go home. The tenants in the apartment were not in the best situation; the principal tenant was a single mother in her mid40’s. Her daughter in her midtwenties also resided there, along with her triplets she had a few years ago. Not only did the plumbing need some attention, but the family of the apartment could have also used some deliberate attention. Plumbing was just one of the many responsibilities we had to do at his apartments in the low income area. Oddly enough, the experience stuck with me and allowed me to think more deeply about the tenants living conditions. However, as a freshman in high school, I had not been informed about the lives of the tenants and wanted more insight about their situation. My father helped me reflect on why his tenants were
in
Harrison Klein
English 100
J. Garrett
2/06/14
Word Count:1340
Apartment Maintenance I stood as far away as I possibly could while my dad cut the pipe; dark brown sludge and waste spewed everywhere, landing on every recipient within distance. Never in my life did I look around and seriously realize my good fortune. Becoming conscious of the differences in my way of life compared to those who live in low income neighborhoods did not occur to me until I had the experience of managing and maintaining an apartment complex. Indeed, it was a maintenance issue at my father’s apartment complex that opened my eyes to another problem, a social and economic problem. The plumbing in one of the apartments had backed up and water would not drain properly, backups; the problem required immediate attention. Plumbing repairs are very demanding and often take all day to fix. The task required to run a
“snake” cable throughout the pipes in an attempt to remove the waste that had accumulated. Finally, we found where the blockage built up, resulting in us cutting the metal pipe. After we completed the horrendous clean up of the waste covered floor, the dirty job had been completed and we could go home. The tenants in the apartment were not in the best situation; the principal tenant was a single mother in her mid40’s. Her daughter in her midtwenties also resided there, along with her triplets she had a few years ago. Not only did the plumbing need some attention, but the family of the apartment could have also used some deliberate attention. Plumbing was just one of the many responsibilities we had to do at his apartments in the low income area. Oddly enough, the experience stuck with me and allowed me to think more deeply about the tenants living conditions. However, as a freshman in high school, I had not been informed about the lives of the tenants and wanted more insight about their situation. My father helped me reflect on why his tenants were
in