Monday, December 19, 2005

Henpawson writes:

I live in a manufactured home that is in a park in the county. Those of us who have been here for a long time know this park was set up as a commune back in the 60's. The conditions have rarely changed during that time. The landscaping is the same as it was 30 years ago only larger. Some of us like it just the way it is, thats why we moved here.

I have a large yard that I have worked very hard to keep landscaped I have removed blackberrys, kept a canopy of trees trimmed to keep the heat down and the shade up. I have in the past been able to spend time in my back yard in privacy no matter what I was doing. I have grapes that grow around the parimiter of my yard and I have never been one to keep others from sharing within reason.

About 6 years ago a family moved in across the street from me and proceeded to harass me. From day one they threw rocks at my pets in my yard. They sat on their porch and yelled cat calls at my teenage daughter. They had mashed potatoe fights over my car in my driveway which did damage to my paint job. I had to deal with their son taking a leak on my flower bed and then I caught them breaking into my yard to steel buckets full of my grapes. I could say that was all but that was only the beginning.

The landlord told me he would deal with it and told them I was just being stingy and to ignore me. The police, who dont want anything to do with our park because of the location, told me I was being a hysterical old woman and should not bother them. Then the landlord who got fired for embezzeling petty cash sold them his house which was right next door to me. Since then they have been cutting down my plants, pouring poison on the trees, throwing stuff at my house and at me. I have no privacy I have no place to seek help and because I am disabled and unable to hold down a full time job I cant get enough money to move. The agencies tell me I am not at the top of their priority list and the lawyers say I can have their help when I get a full time job and can pay them.

Maybe I need to get a tan and then I can get help. Oh did I mention they are immigrants? Yes they are the right color and I am the wrong color not to mention the wrong sex the wrong age and the wrong religion. I just the reason everything is wrong with the world.

1 comment:

Jay said...

Wow! I read this whole Blog tonight but can't get this particular poor woman out of my mind. First, Ca1v1n, even though it's none of my business, have you received an update or heard from this lady again? (Her post is from 2005, after all.)

Second, a few points:

The cat-calls at her daughter are/were harassment or disorderly conduct.

The "potato fights" resulting in damage to her car are hard to prove, but she could possibly have pursued and been compensated for property damage.

The outdoor urination is usually considered an indecency offense, not to mention trespassing since it occurred in her flower bed.

She has additional complaints of trespassing and theft of her grapes in her yard.

Even a communal environment has boundaries (her property, in other words), and the rest of her complaints include examples of more vandalism, harassment, destruction of property, and assault.

I'm not sure of her location, but I'll bet her government (American, Canadian, etc.) provides Social Services assistance for the disabled and/or elderly. This includes free legal assistance. I know she said she wasn't at the top of the list, so she should drive every applicable agency and representative crazy with letter writing, phone calls, law enforcement reports, and signed complaints from other neighbors and concerned friends and family who've witnessed or experienced these harassments until the agencies designed to help her do something on her behalf.

I truly hope those who should be representing her are not ignoring her because of race, age, gender, or religion.

My thoughts are with her, whether she sees this or not.