“The tenant in Unit 1 has a drinking problem, so I didn’t take him seriously when he would call with complaints.”

Those were the very words spoken to me by my apartment manager on Monday morning.

I have lived in my apartment building for close to two months and the unit downstairs from me has been an ongoing problem. The man who lives in this unit has a few problems with sound control. Through my walls and floor, I can hear him carry on conversations. I can hear his stereo. Several times I have been awakened at 3 AM by his television and stereo. I attempted to deal with the problem in person and the tenant looked at me like I had three heads. He is obnoxious and clueless.

This past weekend was the worst in that the noise could not be muffled by my earphones. He and his house party could be heard in every corner of my unit. I dashed off an email to the apartment manager asking that she call me on Monday morning regarding this issue. We have communicated in the past about this guy. She has instructed him to be more mindful of the noise level and he promised he would. The mindfulness lasted about a week.

Monday, mid morning, I receive a call from the property manager about the details of my complaint. As it turns out, the tenant of that unit has been an ongoing problem; with noise levels being the least of the concerns. She has received numerous complaints about him over many months; with one of the chief complainers coming from Unit 1 (next door.) However, she stated to me:

“The tenant in Unit 1 has a drinking problem, so I didn’t take him seriously when he would call with complaints.”

Apparently, Unit 1 Problem Drinker and Downstairs Obnoxious Noise Maker have gotten into a fist fight over the noise issue and Unit 1 Problem Drinker lost his credibility. I informed her that I am perfectly aware of what is going on down below me in regards to drug and alcohol use. I told her that I didn’t have an axe to grind; I had been that tenant myself at one point in my life. I mentioned to her that I have been sober for many years, however, and my tolerance for all night parties has worn thin. She then states to me:

“You are a good tenant, Kristin, with a lot of common sense. I think I have enough to evict this guy. I will be serving him his eviction notice this week.”

Folks, I can’t begin to tell you what those words meant to me. I was not stretching the truth when I told the property manager that I used to be that tenant. I can’t begin to count the amount of times I have had the police summoned to my home, neighbors complain to each other about me, neighbors complain to my face about me, and neighbors shun me because I was such a menace to the local community. I used to think nothing of coming home to my dorm/apartment/ condo/house at 3:00 in the morning after a night of bar hopping and crank up the stereo and my own voice. I, too, was clueless. It is what the cloak of alcohol and drug abuse will do to a person. We will become desensitized to those around us and no amount of neighborly or law enforcement intervention will make us understand.

Yet, while I was flattered to be called a “good tenant” with “common sense,” I couldn’t help but feel the sting of her words describing the tenant with the drinking problem. The neighbor adjacent to the trouble maker who, no doubt, experienced all the same annoyances I did, but could not be taken seriously in his complaints due to his constant drunkenness. I, too, have been that person. I have been the drunk who men, employers, friends, and family have “not taken seriously” due to my chronic intoxication. My heart goes out to this man with the drinking problem. I understand him.

So, I went about the remainder of the day elated by my validation from Property Management, praying for Unit 1 Problem Drinker, and caring very little that Obnoxious Noise Maker is getting evicted. I might be sober, but I’m not stupid.