The fun started during the weekend. In addition to working hard on the first ever episode of the Sconzcast, which I would like every citizen of Sconz Nation to listen to and give me feedback on, and experiencing an epiphany about the future of multimedia for the blog, I enjoyed the family tradition of delicious Mexican cuisine for Thanksgiving dinner.
It only got better when I returned to Madison. Before I got home, a distraught Mrs. Sconz called to alert me that our apartment was in shambles. A contractor for the landlord had come in to redo the bathroom floor, and had ripped out the toilet, ripped the shower curtain and covered much of the bathroom and bedroom with debris. His tools were strewn out on the bed. Whoops, the landlord responded. They thought we were going to be gone that day.
No biggie. The contractor came later that day to fix the mess, and it looks like we'll get a reduction in rent to make up for the ruined toiletries.
Then my oven, which has been leaking gas like crazy for as long as I can remember, caught on fire when repairmen came to inspect it. The landlord was very sorry, and gave us a $30 gift certificate to eat anywhere on State Street that night, due to the culinary inconvenience an explosive oven posed.
It all makes me wonder: Am I a sucker for being so enamored with a $30 gift certificate to eat Nepalese food that I am missing a major opportunity to make my landlord pay big time?
Perhaps, but sometimes the change we seek is short-sighted and shallow. Even in the face of very clear systematic failure, we don't have the energy or patience to work for a solution that will address the fundamental problem (i.e. negligent landlords). We accept the underlying injustices and simply hope we're on the winning side.
