Peculiar . . . The Cat Lady!

I am not sure why, but during the night (while I ought to have been sleeping) I began to think about some of the really peculiar people I have encountered in my life. The one person who sort of stood out most was a lady who used to manage one of the apartment complexes for me. I didn’t hire the lady . . . I suppose I just sort of inherited her. She was the on-site manager when I purchased the property. She seemed to be doing an adequate job (in spite of seeming peculiar) so I kept her in place. Over time, her peculiarly would show up . . . more and more!

The poor lady was actually quite homely, had serious dental issues, was at that sad place of rapidly losing much of her hair, was a chain smoker, and always reeked of cigarette smoke. Over time, she seemed to lose all interest in her appearance . . . which is, of course, a problem in the business world. One afternoon, I received a call from her best friend, who suggested that I inspect the apartment which was provided to her rent-free (including utilities). I tried to get the lady to tell me what the situation was . . . but she would only say, “You really need to look for yourself!”

The next morning I drove to the town where that complex was located. The Manager was startled when I walked into the office on an unscheduled visit. I told her, “Linda, I need to look at your apartment,” to which she replied, “Ok, but you ain’t gonna like it!” Wow, she was spot on!

We walked across the property and when she opened the door and I looked inside, I was dumbfounded. There were at least 20 cats scrambling around the place at a wild pace and the odor was over powering. I terminated her employment on the spot and told her that she had a week to vacate the apartment.

As I left the property, I called the guy in our system who was waiting on deck to step up to the Property Manager position (he had recently completed the in-house training and orientation). He was excited about the opportunity. I also scheduled a make-ready team to order new appliances, carpet, VCT flooring, HVAC equipment and such for the apartment, and to show up on-site in one week. That proved to be one of the most difficult make-readies ever . . . the stench was terrible. We actually had to paint the slab several times with Kilz to get rid of the urine stains on the concrete. As I recall, it took about a year for the apartment to lose the odor.

I personally don’t know how anyone could live in a dwelling with a cat. I just think they are terribly nasty critters who shed hair everywhere; furthermore, they walk around on the dining table and the kitchen cabinets where food is to be prepared. I don’t much like covered-dish meals (often called “Pot Luck’s”) . . . and I will not eat from a dish coming from a household in which there is a cat.

How peculiar for an older lady to live in a small apartment with such a great number of the nasty beasts . . . several of them being wild as the March wind. How unsanitary to live in such unhealthy circumstances.

I wonder what happened to the pitiful old gal and her houseful of cats.

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