A Great Community Has Great People

You know I have written about some of the funny, odd, outrageous things my Residents have done or said but today I received a phone call that took me by complete surprise. Let me tell you about it.

First, a bit of background. Now, I know no one knows me from Adam but just from reading some of these posts you have probably figured out that I am a bit opinionated. Hopefully, too, you see I have a sense of humor. And sensitive! I hope you see I am a sensitive, caring person. But my Residents only see me as the “Manager,” not really as a person. It’s kind of like when I was teaching. If I was at the supermarket and one of the students saw me, they just couldn’t believe what they were seeing.

“Mrs. Sharp! Mrs. Sharp! Mommy, I see Mrs. Sharp! Mrs. Sharp is here, here at Martin’s (a local grocery store).” Kids are funny like that. They don’t think you actually cook and eat and go to the bathroom and do all the stuff they do. J

I sent out a Notice to all the Residents this week letting them know the Office would be closed until Thursday of next week because I would be on vacation. Usually, on larger properties there is someone who also works in the Office and everyone covers when someone is away. But here it is different for me, as I truly work six days a week with no breaks, sometimes not even for lunch. This is my choice. I have a lot of fires in other ovens, so to speak, so my Office here is my work home base. The Residents are used to seeing me here – literally all the time – though they know I travel for work and occasionally the office is closed on weekdays. But my absence in that respect practically never affects them. Even when I am on the road, I can take care of them because I have email access and phone access and they can text me, too. I have been known to lease apartments from my kitchen in Indiana, at another property in a different state and even from my car.

However, since I would be gone longer than ever before, like a good mommy/manager, I notified the Residents to let them know. I did not expect to have Residents stopping in to say things like, “Have a great time!” and “Good for you! You deserve a vacation!” or posting comments on the facebook page telling me they hope I have a fun vacation. I certainly did not expect to have a Resident personally call me to say, “Hey, I just thought I would call and let you know that I'm hoping you have a great time on your vacation.” Then he asked me what my plans were and seemed to really be happy for me and then he said, “We’ll all be okay while you’re gone. And Greg (our Maintenance Tech) will take care of things! You have a great time!”

But that’s what I got. And it made me pretty humble. And … happy.