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Post by Script on Jun 10, 2008 15:38:05 GMT -5
This is a true story: it happened today to someone in my family. I am disguising the names and circumstances out of respect for privacy.
My Relative: Cousin A: owns various rental properties. One of the tenants noticed that mail had been piling up outside one of the doors. In fact, this was an apartment that Cousin A's sister-in-law lived in rent free. Ms. B. is employed in an ad agency; has a fair bit of her own family money; but is not very reliable.
Helpful Tenant calls the police. Somehow they get in touch with Cousin A's Secretary. "The police are preparing to break down the door." The secretary is super-organized, finds the key to the unit, and rushes over to the apartment.
Frantic Secretary gives the keys to the police; they open the door, but at first will not let Ms. Frantic inside "just in case".
Eventually, Ms. Frantic is informed that there are no dead bodies or signs of foul play. JUST INCREDIBLE MESS AND CHAOS.
The police are concerned and ask Ms. Frantic to find the phone numbers for Ms. B.
NO ONE SEEMS TO HAVE ANY IDEA OF HER CELL PHONE OR OTHER INFO. Ms. Frantic is left holding the bag, so to speak, calling various work-place numbers. contacting her boss, sending e-mails, and generally ruining her day.
There is a warning here......on many fronts:
*make sure someone knows where to find you in case of emergency (Ms. B's own mother is 85 years old)
*know that sometimes people might have to enter your dwelling un-invited.
Luv from Script
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Post by Perfect Mess on Jun 10, 2008 16:08:24 GMT -5
Wow, did they finally find Ms. B? When we went on vacation for 10 days I told 2 of our neighbors (people I'm not terriby close with) where I was going and how to contact me. ...just in case..
It's always a good idea to let people know you'll be away.. My reasoning is, what if the house burned down or something.
But anyway, I hope everything turned out OK in the end.
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Post by moggyfan on Jun 10, 2008 16:41:33 GMT -5
In what turned out to be a comedy of errors, but seemed potentially very serious at the time, we called the police last year when a very reliable colleague with history of heart problems did not show up at work one day, and calls to her home, cell and elsewhere proved fruitless. I met the police at her apartment. They managed to break in--I was also told to wait outside, "just in case." When it was apparent there was nothing amiss, they invited me inside. The place was homey but immaculate. One of the cops turned to me and said, "Wow--look at that. She makes her bed!" I had to  . It made me think that a WHOLE LOT of the world is much messier than we've been led to believe! (Colleague of course turned up an hour later, having been off-campus at a scheduled meeting that our principal had forgotten about. Oops!) |
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Post by SueDonym on Jun 10, 2008 18:33:35 GMT -5
In the deepest depths of my squalor, my house was burglarized while I was out of town. For 2 hours after I came home, I agonized over whether or not to call the police. I finally did. He was polite, and I am sure he has seen similar things before, but I was still incredibly mortified... I think it hurt as much as the burglary did.
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Post by fluffernut - now Jannie on Jun 10, 2008 20:23:37 GMT -5
My brother lives with Mom, age 85. He's 50, a disabled veteran with back problems. He woke up one day and couldn't get out of bed, his back was really bad. Mom is very thin, couldn't help him. So she called 911 and an ambulance and several EMT's showed up. They had trouble getting up the stairs to his bedroom, and the hallway was very cluttered. They refused to go any further and my brother was left in bed. Mom was embarassed her clutter had prevented her son from getting to the hospital. Can you guess who eventually cleared the hall? My brother, to help Mom, once he was feeling a little more mobile. Mom is still embarassed about that one. All three daughters have offered to come and clean for her , but Mom says "NO".
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Post by limegreen on Jun 10, 2008 20:38:36 GMT -5
A squalourer I used to know had a break-in, and called the police. The policeman commented that the thieves had made a heck of a mess, and she owned up that it was her own mess, and just as well, as the thieves had not been able to find her valuables and jewelery under all her piled papers and junk.
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troubledmom
New Member
Put one foot in front of the other and soon......
Joined: June 2008
Posts: 26 
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Post by troubledmom on Jun 10, 2008 21:09:11 GMT -5
 IF they made it past the dogs to get in...
YAY! They would find a fairly average home these days. Maybe a tad cluttered, and things may be out of place (darn those homeless things) and maybe the floor needs to be vacuumed... but yeah otherwise not bad at all. |
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Post by chronic on Jun 11, 2008 4:18:16 GMT -5
Yeah, I often joke that if anyone broke in here, they'd turn right around real quick and decide it was too much trouble!
Actually though our shed was broken into and we didn't call the police.. partly because I'm embarrassed about the OUTSIDE of the house. Also because we know who did it and let's just say I'd rather not mess with them. Sad but true.. they have "connections" with cops and they are serious trouble. They can have what they took, but it's not happening again (more locks/security/fencing).
And, speaking of outside mess.. our front porch was such a wreck that someone took the little mini park bench (child sized one) my mom bought the younger kids and we didn't notice it was missing... for MONTHS!
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Post by reesa on Jun 11, 2008 5:21:15 GMT -5
I just recently thought someone had stolen some yard tools. I called and the cops came. And found my tools in a bin that was underneath a pile of sticks, right where I had put them last week.
*blushing*
They thought it was pretty funny, though, and they weren't rude about the mess
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Post by Script on Jun 11, 2008 6:18:30 GMT -5
Wow, did they finally find Ms. B? But anyway, I hope everything turned out OK in the end. I just heard, as follows, from an e-mail (names changed): Cousin A spoke to his sister-in-law.....she had gone to her Mom's.....and hadn't told anyone......and returned very late at night.
Ms. B promised she would send him her cell phone #.....but as expected, he still hasn't heard from her. |
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Post by messysue on Jun 11, 2008 12:07:55 GMT -5
I'm like troubledmom. IE: "a fairly average home these days. Maybe a tad cluttered, and things may be out of place (darn those homeless things) and maybe the floor needs to be vacuumed... but yeah otherwise not bad at all."
It is such a relief to be ABLE to invite people in!! Do I want people in? NO!! But I CAN have people in.
For the newbies at SS: I was once in 3rd degree squalor. A furnace repairman refused to come in!! I lived in dread of the Health Dept. being called on me. I made inroads on my mess but I was still at a 3 when my BF oversaw the decluttering & cleaning of my house. He washed walls & painted, tore up & discarded carpeting etc. I had pergo wood flooring put down in the living room, hallway & bathroom & bought a new living room set.
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Post by puppybox on Jun 11, 2008 12:56:55 GMT -5
I am really enjoying this thread.
In the past, I used to think being messy (high level 2) was somehow a sign of superiority, intelligence or something, and that in the even of a robbery no one would find stuff like
jewelery to steal.
Whenever I saw a robbery scene in a movie I would marvel that in a clean well organised space it is really really hard to hide anything. This made me even more unwilling and nervous to clean up- even though I didn't own anything valuable (to others), and never have.
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Post by heylady1 on Jun 11, 2008 13:27:05 GMT -5
My squalor has mostly been the hidden kind. Like don't open the closet doors (assuming that is, that you could close them in the first place!), don't go in the shed/laundry room, extra bedroom, that kind of thing. Also areas in the house needed a good cleaning. But really, even though my house is better than it's ever been before -both the hoarding and the cleaning- and I should be able to let the police in, I would still hesitate just as I hesitate to have anybody come into the house. Because I know that my house isn't up to "normal" standards. Certain people I'm okay with coming in like my dad and my son's friends have come in and it never bothered me. But other people coming in just freaks me out.... My son's room is another story. High level 3 for sure. His room is overwhelming to me in so many ways. We are both trying to find something that will work so it doesn't get any worse. The only people who have seen his room is us, of course, and his best friend who btw lives in a house that is a solid level 4. It would be more than difficult to let anyone else see that room and whats been allowed to happen in there.  |
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Post by gottaproblem on Jun 11, 2008 13:30:34 GMT -5
8-)Wasn't there a post once that talked about a burglar breaking in and actually cleaning up when he saw what a mess there was?  I remember thinking that was soooo funny.  |
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Post by heylady1 on Jun 11, 2008 14:03:52 GMT -5
I need to get me one of them "cleaning burglars"  |
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