Summer L.
The leasing office staff have been kind and tried to address things with maintenance, even offering to have my sink and toilet cleaned. But what happened has left me feeling unsafe and targeted. I’m a single Asian woman, and I can’t help wondering whether the maintenance worker thinks he can do what he wants in my apartment because I won’t speak up. He has free access to enter when I’m away, which makes that fear worse. After unclogging the sink, he left a mess in my kitchen. I came home after a long workday and started cleaning it myself, thinking maybe they had no time, then found the toilet seat up. I always keep the bathroom door shut and the lid down. Why did he go into a single woman’s bathroom without permission? Where else did he go in the unit? I’d reported the sink twice the previous month, when the problem was noticeable but less severe. The first worker was patient. The second time it was Turkey. I wrote that the sink clogged after more than five minutes of use and attached a photo. He seemed impatient when I asked him to let it run longer after he’d run it for 30 seconds and said there was no issue. He also turned on the dishwasher without asking. When I asked him to turn it off and focus on the sink, he told me to report it only when clogged and film it as proof. I shouldn’t have to prove I can recognize a problem to get the sink cleared. He also repeatedly walked in wearing shoes. The leasing office later said they have boots prepared and are supposed to ask first. Once he left a footprint on my freshly cleaned bath mat, which can be removed. I’m sharing this so anyone with a similar experience knows the concern is real. The disregard and insecurity are real, too.
