Bad Student Movers
Aug. 3rd, 2004 12:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
shannon_aThe bad point about living in Berkeley is that, due to the general age of the population, you have a higher than normal proportion of people who think they're the center of the universe and have no concern for the people around them. I know it bugs K. at least 10x more than it bugs me, but it's still an occasional trouble.
(And, looking at my Subject: reminds me of the last time we had particularly inconsiderate neighbors, which were the very loud Oriental students who decided to start moving into their apartment, amidst much yelling, at about 2am one morning in May or June.)
This time, however, it was all about people moving out.
A couple of weeks ago now, toward the middle of July, junk started appearing on sidewalk strip next to the house next door (a badly subdivided old house, at it happens). Books, nick-nacks, and other junk. The intent was probably to give them away, but our Neighborhood Movers didn't have the wit to put out a "free" sign, which is what it takes to actually make most stuff go away.
About a week and a half ago, a bike mysteriously appeared over on our property, next to our garbage can. Much to my surprise it remained for three days before being taken, possibly a record in Berkeley. (If they wanted to make it disappear faster they should have chained it to a local signpost with a non-Kryptonite lock, in which case it would have been gone within hours.)
However, the annoyance really started last Tuesday. Our garbage can was out in the morning, to be picked up by the trashmen. (Our single, officially sanctioned garbage can, I should note. As with many cities, you can no longer just put out your trash in Berkeley and expect it to be picked up. Instead, your garbage is rationed down to the last ounce.) By the end of the work-day on Tuesday, when I tried to drag the garbage can in, I found it had been filled to the brim with about a hundred pounds of crap, thanks to our lovely neighbors.
As we would later learn, the detritus included forks, spoons, plates, an iron, a pot, other pieces of minor hardware, about 20 pounds of unused cat litter, and a collection of pasta, lentils, and other simple food stuffs.
The garbage can was too heavy to be dragged back up the steps to our side yard and even more annoying we now had no space for garbage all week. So it got left out.
Come Friday night, our stealthy movers apparently returned to the scene of the crime, attempted to add more heavy junk to our garbage can, and just managed to offbalance it, spilling their crap all over our sidewalk strip. They did, of course, what any responsible resident would do. They ran off.
Cut to Saturday morning, filled with our throwing all their crap back away, and scooping up as much of their cat litter from the foliage as possible. I was so happy to live next to such nice people, and so sad they were leaving.
Now, with July over, the jerks that used to live next to us seem to be gone. Their last bits of major crap left on the street, a comfy chair and an old, black chest of drawers, are slowly being ripped apart and grafittied to death. Nonetheless, because they were too stupid to call the city for a large-item garbage pickup, they'll probably sit there for a while. They'll be totally ruined by the time they're picked up, thanks to the lack of a Free sign.
I don't understand how people so stupid get into Berkeley, but I thought that I lot when I sat in class and listened to hours of innane questions from people who just-didn't-get-it back when I was studying at Berkeley too.
(And, looking at my Subject: reminds me of the last time we had particularly inconsiderate neighbors, which were the very loud Oriental students who decided to start moving into their apartment, amidst much yelling, at about 2am one morning in May or June.)
This time, however, it was all about people moving out.
A couple of weeks ago now, toward the middle of July, junk started appearing on sidewalk strip next to the house next door (a badly subdivided old house, at it happens). Books, nick-nacks, and other junk. The intent was probably to give them away, but our Neighborhood Movers didn't have the wit to put out a "free" sign, which is what it takes to actually make most stuff go away.
About a week and a half ago, a bike mysteriously appeared over on our property, next to our garbage can. Much to my surprise it remained for three days before being taken, possibly a record in Berkeley. (If they wanted to make it disappear faster they should have chained it to a local signpost with a non-Kryptonite lock, in which case it would have been gone within hours.)
However, the annoyance really started last Tuesday. Our garbage can was out in the morning, to be picked up by the trashmen. (Our single, officially sanctioned garbage can, I should note. As with many cities, you can no longer just put out your trash in Berkeley and expect it to be picked up. Instead, your garbage is rationed down to the last ounce.) By the end of the work-day on Tuesday, when I tried to drag the garbage can in, I found it had been filled to the brim with about a hundred pounds of crap, thanks to our lovely neighbors.
As we would later learn, the detritus included forks, spoons, plates, an iron, a pot, other pieces of minor hardware, about 20 pounds of unused cat litter, and a collection of pasta, lentils, and other simple food stuffs.
The garbage can was too heavy to be dragged back up the steps to our side yard and even more annoying we now had no space for garbage all week. So it got left out.
Come Friday night, our stealthy movers apparently returned to the scene of the crime, attempted to add more heavy junk to our garbage can, and just managed to offbalance it, spilling their crap all over our sidewalk strip. They did, of course, what any responsible resident would do. They ran off.
Cut to Saturday morning, filled with our throwing all their crap back away, and scooping up as much of their cat litter from the foliage as possible. I was so happy to live next to such nice people, and so sad they were leaving.
Now, with July over, the jerks that used to live next to us seem to be gone. Their last bits of major crap left on the street, a comfy chair and an old, black chest of drawers, are slowly being ripped apart and grafittied to death. Nonetheless, because they were too stupid to call the city for a large-item garbage pickup, they'll probably sit there for a while. They'll be totally ruined by the time they're picked up, thanks to the lack of a Free sign.
I don't understand how people so stupid get into Berkeley, but I thought that I lot when I sat in class and listened to hours of innane questions from people who just-didn't-get-it back when I was studying at Berkeley too.