Along Came A Spider
A Day in the Life . . .
Along Came a Spider
We had a very tall, strong, good-looking male resident who was definitely model material. Whenever he came into the leasing office, the girls would hang onto his every word and scramble to fulfill his requests. It was a little disgusting—especially given that fact that I was included in that number!
He Was Just . . .So . . . Hot!
One day he came in and, as usual, had our complete and undivided attention. On this particular occasion, he’d come to complain about a spider in his apartment. My team and I exchanged some puzzled, but amused looks as he complained about the arachnid. I knew we were all thinking the same thing: What? Mr. Macho Dreamy Guy is afraid of a little spider?
I grabbed my work order pad and jotted down some notes. “We’ll add you to the list and have the pest control folks treat your home on their next visit,” I assured him. “Where in your apartment did you see the spider?”
He bit his lip, looked down at the ground and shuffled his feet. “Well, I should tell you girls that the spider wasn’t exactly inside my apartment.”
I guess the guy could see the surprised look on my face because he quickly added, “He was outside . . . on a sign near my front door and the thing is huge!”
I didn’t have to look at my co-workers to know they were working to control their laughter as the hunky resident we once swooned over suddenly appeared very wimpy.
“I’m worried it’s going to come inside,” he said. “I can’t wait for the pest control company—I need someone from your maintenance staff to come over and kill it immediately!”
An Inside Job
Needing a moment to process this information, I leaned back in my chair and thought for a moment before speaking. Obviously this guy is terrified of spiders, I thought. I need to be sensitive about how I respond.
I took a deep breath and told him our policy on pest control. “I’m sorry, but I’m afraid we’re only responsible for pests inside the apartments,” I told him. “If you’re really that worried about it, you could pick up a can of bug killer and take care of it yourself.”
We watched as his face fell and his shoulders slumped before he walked unhappily out of our office. My co-workers and I were also unhappy having leaned that our community “stud” was afraid of a spider.
Sidebar: Our close-knit team had nicknames for many of our residents. After this incident, instead of referring to our handsome guy as "The Hunk", he became known as "Spider Man".
From the book I Have a Complex, But I'm Managing It!, stories from property managers compiled by Monica E. Simmons.
Monica E. Simmons, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for JDC Enterprises, LLC, has worked in the multi-family industry in several different capacities since 1987. She is a published author whose books include; I Have A Complex, But I’m Managing It!, It Happened in The Hill Country and 30-Love.
Contact her at: Monica@TheVendorGuide.com
