My young tenant moved out on me this past Friday with no explanation nor warning. I knew that he had been going though some hoops and hurdles with women, his ex and his current girlfriend along with child support due to both of them. However, he had always been what I call a straight up guy and he always paid his rent on time the first of each month. In turn I had thrown some work his way when he started his own business as well as referred him to several other jobs that he got. Thus, I thought that we were at a fairly good level of communication and understanding, so his sudden departure really caught me by surprise.
On Friday afternoon when I looked in his apartment and saw that it was completely emptied out, I immediately thought to contact him and ask “WTF?” But knowing that I am not at my best when I am angry with someone, I elected to wait a day or two and see if instead he would contact me. He never did.
Sunday morning then I composed a brief text message to him. I worked on it for abit to try and convey how I felt about it while not being too critical of him and his actions. I wrote and rewrote a text message to him and than ran it by my editor/advisor to see if it sounded ok. She suggested some changes which I then incorporated, re-read it once more and hit send button. Here is my text to him:
After sending the text to him, I sat down with Pam to eat breakfast. I told her that I hoped he would respond and give me some explanation of just what he was thinking. When my phone pinged, I picked it up to read this response from him:
BTW, I have a nice apartment for rent for $800 a month. All utilities, wi fi and T-V are included. A security deposit of $700 is required prior to move in. Call me at 301-994-0826.
And while speaking of doors, just when you think that you have heard all of the Christmas songs to be heard, another one pops up to confirm that you have not: