Live & Direct from the external hard drive, that arcane & eldritch repository of years past: a letter to my landlords of 2003, writ in Anger. There’s many stylistic things that I’d change if this was being written today, but I like how much it holds up– and how raving mad I sound.
Common Good? Their ward? Wrong doing and apathy?
It would seem that in my lunacy I had confused my landlord with Batman.
–
Jarett Kobek
10 Barnes St, Apt #5
Providence, RI 02906
[Landlord Name & Address Redacted]
August 11, 2003
RE: Parking at 10-12 Barnes St.
Dear Sir or Madam,
Per our many conversations, you are by now no doubt aware that for some time there has been a series of ongoing and flagrant violations of stated building rules regarding the number of cars that may be parked per unit. As we have discussed on several occasions, and as was assured during the process of lease signing, there is a space available for one car per unit and one car only.
I have no desire to police this situation, nor am I unreasonable enough to believe this rule should not be subject to a certain amount of flexibility. Certainly there are occasions and one-time situations which may take place without any real trespass, but when violations occur with a repeated and daily frequency, it’s hard to miss the emerging pattern of abuse, and even harder to deny the progression of circumstance from merely annoying to utterly intolerable. You’ll recall that my complaints have come not in relation to certain and very specific units parking two vehicles each and every night.
I now find that this situation has further escalated. On the night of August 9th, 2003, the tenants of 10 Barnes Apt #3 have parked not only the car (a tan Saturn with Canada Registration # [REDACTED]) and truck (a grey Toyota with New York State Registration # [REDACTED]) with which they routinely flout the rules regarding parking, but also a third card (silver Honda Civic, New York Registration # [REDACTED].)
Allowing this behavior to continue would constitute sheer madness.
Surely, as Landlord of this residence, you have a familiarity with the limited number of available parking spaces and are able to easily imagine the basic antisocial nature of this transgression. When the number of cars being parked by any single unit is three, the situation becomes not merely the breaking of a soft rule, but a brutal attack on the Common Good. I would like to believe that your organization recognizes its inherent responsibility and duty towards the protection of that Common Good, and understands that all of its tenants should not suffer needlessly because of wrong-doing and apathy. Your actions, however, have only reflected your apparent disinterest in the protection of that which is your ward, and it seems as though you would rather let the well-being of All be trampled and destroyed by the Few who have no sense of human decency, nor no natural regard for others, let alone any respect for stated regulations.
Clearly, as several apartments within the building remain vacant, the impact of these violations is minimized. Equally clear is the reality that the building is near two colleges, and that school soon will be in session. When these empty units are occupied, these matters will enter a state of crisis.
I write to you now not with the desire to shame any person, nor merely to complain, but with the hopes that you will recognize this letter for exactly what it is: a chance to correct a bad situation before it becomes considerably worse. Our conversation in June left me believing that assigned parking was an impending reality. Instead, it has proven to be a fanciful possibility that might some day come to fruition. While I am sympathetic and understand that certain elements are no doubt working in such a way as to avoid daytime detection, surely as protector of the Common Good, you can recognize the multiple ways in which this situation may be redressed without resorting to nighttime surveillance.
I am enclosing an informal letter delivered to the tenants in Apt #3, 10 Barnes.
I look forward to your immediate and efficacious response. I am,
Sincerely yours,
Jarett Kobek
cc: tenants 10 Barnes #3
enclosure
–
What a dick!
