All Visitors Must Be Announced
We have one rule for people visiting our building. One rule. It's not hard to follow and it doesn't require a siginificant amount of enforcement, typically. For th emost part, people respect the sign in the lobby that clearly and explicitly states that "All Visitors Must Be Announced."
The purpose is obvious: to protect the safety and privacy of the residents of the building. Friends and family of tenants, food delivery, parcel services, supermarket dropoff, drug dealers, escort service - no matter who it is, if your name is not on a lease, check with me first so that I can make the call. Our building is equipped with an internal phone system whereby I can dial any apartment with a three-digit number and the intercom in their kitchen or living room rings to alert them.
Now working the late night shift has its pros and cons. Pros- much quieter (during the week), fewer visitors, packages, dry cleaning and food delivery to deal with. Con- there is no one to relieve me when I must "relieve myself." All other doormen get to take breaks because the super, a porter or maintenance man can watch the door when they need eat or use the restroom. I, on the other hand, can never leave.
But in an eight-hour shift, that is not realistic. Once or twice a night, I need to run to the basement where we have our lockers and a private bathroom next to the laundry room. I am never away from the desk for more than five minutes. And if someone comes in that time, to hell with it. They have a free pass.
But last night, the super's drunk mistress happened to stop by. This is not the first time this has happened, either. The super, a Turkish man in his mid-40's, took over the job in late 2003. The previous super was great, but he was forced into retirement when he got sick. Needless to say, no one likes the new guy, but those stories are for another time. Anyhow, the super is given a two-bedroom apartment in the building so that he can always be around in case of an emergency. His wife lives there as well, but travels back and forth to Turkey, so there are weeks at a time when she is not here. No real surprise that the super has a girlfriend on the side, but you'd think he'd be more cautious. Nope. He brings her around whenever his wife is away.
Once last summer she just appeared in the middle of the night one night when the super and his wife were at home asleep. I was able to send her away the first time without incident. The second time, she put up a fight and I had to call the super down to deal with her. I'm not sure what lie he told his wife, but I'm assuming it was fine.
Of course, last night, in the five minutes I was downstairs using the restroom, the woman must have gone straight up and not waited for me to announce her as a visitor. The super and his wife were home asleep and when I got back to my desk a few minutes later, he was grabbing her by the hair and pulling her out of the elevator. He threw her, literally, towards the door after reading her the riot act very loudly, but then he pulled her in and kissed and said he'd call her again soon, but not to come back there again without calling. Man, I'm not sure what this dude is telling his wife, but she's gotta be the dumbest woman ever.
Once she was gone, I apologized and said I was in the back room sorting through the remaining dry cleaning and that she must have come in very quietly. I do not like lying and helping this sonofabitch out, and he knows I have power over him so he was calm and cool to me - it was the first time that I was not there to intercept her. I won't make that mistake again. Next time, I'll just call up and let him and his wife know that his girlfriend is back.
The purpose is obvious: to protect the safety and privacy of the residents of the building. Friends and family of tenants, food delivery, parcel services, supermarket dropoff, drug dealers, escort service - no matter who it is, if your name is not on a lease, check with me first so that I can make the call. Our building is equipped with an internal phone system whereby I can dial any apartment with a three-digit number and the intercom in their kitchen or living room rings to alert them.
Now working the late night shift has its pros and cons. Pros- much quieter (during the week), fewer visitors, packages, dry cleaning and food delivery to deal with. Con- there is no one to relieve me when I must "relieve myself." All other doormen get to take breaks because the super, a porter or maintenance man can watch the door when they need eat or use the restroom. I, on the other hand, can never leave.
But in an eight-hour shift, that is not realistic. Once or twice a night, I need to run to the basement where we have our lockers and a private bathroom next to the laundry room. I am never away from the desk for more than five minutes. And if someone comes in that time, to hell with it. They have a free pass.
But last night, the super's drunk mistress happened to stop by. This is not the first time this has happened, either. The super, a Turkish man in his mid-40's, took over the job in late 2003. The previous super was great, but he was forced into retirement when he got sick. Needless to say, no one likes the new guy, but those stories are for another time. Anyhow, the super is given a two-bedroom apartment in the building so that he can always be around in case of an emergency. His wife lives there as well, but travels back and forth to Turkey, so there are weeks at a time when she is not here. No real surprise that the super has a girlfriend on the side, but you'd think he'd be more cautious. Nope. He brings her around whenever his wife is away.
Once last summer she just appeared in the middle of the night one night when the super and his wife were at home asleep. I was able to send her away the first time without incident. The second time, she put up a fight and I had to call the super down to deal with her. I'm not sure what lie he told his wife, but I'm assuming it was fine.
Of course, last night, in the five minutes I was downstairs using the restroom, the woman must have gone straight up and not waited for me to announce her as a visitor. The super and his wife were home asleep and when I got back to my desk a few minutes later, he was grabbing her by the hair and pulling her out of the elevator. He threw her, literally, towards the door after reading her the riot act very loudly, but then he pulled her in and kissed and said he'd call her again soon, but not to come back there again without calling. Man, I'm not sure what this dude is telling his wife, but she's gotta be the dumbest woman ever.
Once she was gone, I apologized and said I was in the back room sorting through the remaining dry cleaning and that she must have come in very quietly. I do not like lying and helping this sonofabitch out, and he knows I have power over him so he was calm and cool to me - it was the first time that I was not there to intercept her. I won't make that mistake again. Next time, I'll just call up and let him and his wife know that his girlfriend is back.
posted by Mirko Milutovic @ 11:42 AM
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