In this episode, expanding upon the use of Swisher Sweets as wrappers for cannabis, we examine a couple of other items of detritus, and abuse of the provided facilities
Item 1 – used hypodermic syringe
While walking our dogs the other day, my wife stumbled across a discarded hypodermic syringe in the bushes at the edge of the apartment compound. Of course it could have been a diabetic’s insulin syringe that just got carelessly tossed. But I doubt it.
Yep, IV drug use in the complex. Not too surprising given our location, the gang activity, and the borderline poverty that surrounds us (wild to think that in a neighborhood where you can’t touch a single family home for less than $650K, you have to deal with this crap)
As is well known drug use isn’t an indication of poverty (see the Heroin epidemic in the late 1990’s in Plano Texas, an upscale suburb of Dallas), but unlike the pockets of drug use in affluent areas, it is truly endemic in poor areas. You really can’t avoid it.
Item 2 – hash pipe found in the laundry room
When we moved in here, I was a bit puzzled by the rule that the laundry rooms (there are 4 on the campus) were closed from 10:00PM until 9:00AM. I was thinking that this seemed a silly rule that would be not enforced.
Alas, once you step foot in the laundry rooms you understand why the rule is in place, and why there are timed locks on the doors.
First, they are collectors of crap. Kids (teenagers) hang out in them after dark. I see kids hanging around them that don’t appear to live in the apartments. One night, as I was taking out the trash, I walked by one (roughly 8:00PM), two teen agers were “guarding” the door, and I could hear two others (I guess two) having sex in the laundry room. Ewww. Needless to say, we don’t fold our clothes on the bench in the laundry rooms.
Second, according to the wandering security patrol, they routinely find drug paraphernalia in the laundry room. Mostly makeshift hash pipes.
Sometimes, I see the laundry room door propped open to prevent the lock from engaging at 10:00PM. At first I thought this was innocent people wanting to do their laundry. Now I remove the obstruction.
I can’t wait to move into a house.
