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Many times, when something is bothering you, it reaches a level when you can no longer take it. You feel that you must take action or those veins in your neck and forehead that start bulging when you start thinking about it will eventually burst.
Most times, even though the problem is not resolved, you feel as though you at least did something. You reported it, you said something, or at the very least, you pointed it out in passing. Even with the problem not solved, you may have lit the fuse or got the ball rolling. You know, kind of a grass roots movement that may blossom because of your action or at least you hope so.
Even though most people don’t do it, and are content to let others write the letters and climb onto their soapboxes, there are those of us who do it and are happy when we hear support. Even if it comes in the form of a veiled whisper that nobody else can or will hear.
I find it completely understandable when people take the stance of doing nothing. Some may be afraid of hurting someone’s feelings, others may be afraid of retaliation by those who they suspect of doing something wrong. The latter is usually the more compelling of the two. After all, in this whacked out world, people are hurt and even killed for much less.
What becomes even more frustrating is when you think something is wrong, you take the time to research it, and you find that you were right. Then, you take the time and risk to report it, and then nothing happens. For over a year and a half I have had this happen to me. I feel I shouldn’t have to deal with it this long after my initial reporting. I don’t know if you have a similar story but here is mine……..
I have a neighbor, a couple of houses away, that is a mobile auto mechanic, The Car Demon, as I like to call him. What that means is that he has a set up in his van that allows him to do repairs in places other than an established garage. A great idea, as long as you keep moving.
Unfortunately for me, he doesn’t keep moving enough, he seems to favor one spot in particular. That spot, sadly, is in front of the house that he lives in, along with many members of his extended family and children, toddlers to be exact.
I wouldn’t have a problem if we were talking about the occasional oil change or putting on a new set of tires. But we are talking about much more than that. This guy is doing major auto body repair including painting. He is dropping engines and transmissions, and there doesn’t seem to be any type of job he won’t take on. I’m sure if I asked him to rebuild an 18-wheeler he wouldn’t say no. Although, I would probably never ask him to do an engine repair for me since there was that one engine that caught fire.
The cul-de-sac that I live on is not only short, it’s narrow. Any excess traffic is not only unwelcome, it completely chokes off the ability for the people at the end of the cul-de-sac, of which I am, from getting in or out without a problem. Add to that, if you can picture it, full size tow trucks dropping off cars for the next day’s work. Sometimes they come in the middle of the night, with their bells and whistles going off, and they wake up my entire family. I’m sure if any of you were faced with this you would want some answers as to whether or not this was kosher with the city.
So I contacted the city’s Code Enforcement (“CE”) office to see if this was legal and low and behold it wasn’t. I was told by the CE Officer, Jaime, that he would go by the offender’s home and try and catch him in the act. Apparently, he needed to do to give him a citation in the act, as my word was not good enough. I guess that’s fair. I wouldn’t want to be accused, without proof, or otherwise we would have the code enforcement equivalent of the Salem Witch trials.
True to his word, or at least so he told me in a follow up phone call, he went by and gave him a warning. This at first seemed to work, the repair traffic stopped for a couple of months, but slowly it began to increase. Now it wasn’t a constant stream of cars like before. It was as if he was setting up appointments that could be done quickly and for a minimum amount of time to be spent at his house, so he wouldn’t be caught again.
Again I called Team CE. Apparently, The Car Demon’s plan was working. Every time I would call Team CE he would vanish before they could arrive to catch him in the act, slippery little devil that he is. Within a year from my original call he was well on his way to building up his car repair empire to bigger than it was before.
As of my last call to Jaime in trying to stop the madness, my little corner of the universe is no longer in his jurisdiction. He assured me that the Officer in my quadrant would remain vigilant and would eventually catch The Evil Car Demon. I know that their job is a tough one. What with making people put in uncoded staircase banisters, and making sure that our hedges are the proper height. With all of that, I know that their plates must be full.
But it makes one think. If I am just one person and I have only one problem, what does it take to get a problem like this resolved?
I have read in the City Manager’s column where they, the city, want our help. Help in reporting homes that have done things like converting their garages into living spaces. On our community cable channel 55 they ask for our help in reporting graffiti, streetlights, and stoplights that are out. Well as someone who has attempted to pick up the mantle and run with it, I have to ask the question, are these the only things you want us to be vigilante about or do you want our help with things that are not within your advertising scope? Because if you do, the road should be traveled both ways. Just because you don’t happen to be in the area when the Demon is, doesn’t mean he isn’t there.
Like it says in the Bible, the greatest trick that the Devil ever played on mankind was convincing them that he didn’t exist.
The Shrub Speaks: See, one of the interesting things in the Oval Office -- I love to bring people into the Oval Office -- right around the corner from here -- and say, this is where I office. Washington, D.C., Feb. 18, 2004
B.D.’s Response: Since he probably doesn’t do much work in there, “I office” probably describes what he does best!
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