Can I vent?

A letter I got at work today, along with a resident's payment for November rent:

To Management:

It has been brought to my attention that there have been two seperate (nice spelling) apartment burglaries resulting in stolen property at The Ballpark. Please be advised that swift and immeidiate (again, nice spelling) action to secure your complix (gah!) is expected by those of us who are guarantors of students living there. Inaction to this serious matter will not be overlooked.

Sincerely,
(I'll be kind and not post her name)

Ok, first, let me address the spelling errors. I am an admitted snob when it comes to spelling & grammar, but honestly? You are going to write us a letter that is obviously supposed to intimidate us into doing the right thing (because clearly you think we wouldn't on our own accord), and you're not going to check your spelling? And we're supposed to take this seriously? Mmmkay.

Second, I'm not sure what is meant by her broad generalizations of "immeidiate action to secure our complix", but don't we have more of a vested interest than anyone to ascertain some level of security for our residents? Wouldn't we be the ones to lose revenue and risk liability by not trying to do as much as we can to secure our apartments? I am astounded that some parent out there would assume the worst first, rather than assume the more logical idea that we are obviously concerned as well, and doing what we can within our power to prevent break-ins from happening. Which brings me to another point ...

Although people love to be able to blame someone for everything that goes wrong in their lives, we cannot take responsibility for the actions of others. We have zero control over how persistent one or more individuals become in taking things that aren't their own. We don't invite criminals on the property & hope for the best. We don't leave parking gates or pedestrian gates unlocked or dysfunctional to assist crooks in their quest for game stations & Coach purses. Of course we are doing what we know best to keep our residents from harm's way. But, people insist on blaming whomever is closest to them, so they have someone to yell at & threaten - that way, they can make themselves feel better. I will just never understand why it will be our fault 100% of the time when someone is a victim on our property. If someone's car were broken into off our property, would they blame the car company who sold it to them? Of course not. But, if it happens here, it's no one's fault but ours.

The apartment complex I work at is not located in the most desirable part of town, which is a clear fact to anyone in Austin. You say "it's off East Riverside", and almost every single person will either cringe, make a face, or say, "yikes". Yet, people choose to live here anyway because they like the cheap rent, but then act shocked when they hear of a crime taking place. This, too, will always baffle me.

We do no less than any other apartment complex to prevent burglaries & break-ins on our property. In fact, I'd say we even do more, because we know what area of town we're dealing with. But, once again, our attempts to exceed people's expectations will be criticized and they will bad-mouth us to their friends, because we didn't do enough. It's never enough. Unless we hire personal security guards to stand vigil outside someone's car and/or front door, it will never be enough. I'm getting really sick of this impossible level of customer service that is expected, and I'm not sure how much more I can stand. Moral of my rant: if you don't like something, than do something about it. Be proactive, not reactionary. And for the love of God, don't stick around to prove a point & just complain the entire time. If you think your child is at risk, arm them with the knowledge and appropriate actions to take to help minimize their chances of being in harm's way. If you're going to let them live in an area of town that most people wouldn't take on because of the crime statistics, be prepared for something to happen. Don't just think it won't happen to them & turn a blind eye. And please, don't act stunned when you find out something unpleasant. My parents wouldn't even let me drive on this side of town as a teenager, and made it clear on what would happen if they caught wind of me doing it anyway. And if I had, and something had happened, I can guarantee you they would never have blamed anyone else - not the place I was driving to, not the people who made my car ... no one. Hell, I can remember when living in San Antonio, my back window of my car was bashed in one night at my apartment complex. When I called my Dad the next day to let him know, the first thing he asked me was who I had pissed off. He didn't call the apartment manager, or send mildly threatening letters to anyone who worked at the complex. He was pissed, believe me, but he dealt with the problem. That's what you do. You don't write misspelled letters to people you have never even met, telling them you won't tolerate them if they don't react the way you assume they should - yet, you never tell them exactly what you think would be sufficient action.

I need to win the lottery.