A cleaning service (not really) that I would NOT recommend to anyone! and A Call For Neighborhood Watch

Yesterday a cleaning service came to our home.  Today I thought I would share my impressions of their work.  The "good" is that they were very proactive (we did not have to call and remind them to show up), they were kinda' polite (they worked hard to avoid confrontation), and what they cleaned, they cleaned very well -- leaving no trace behind.

But they were a really VERY BAD cleaning service in other ways.  Their work seemed quite rushed (I'm certain that they spent less than two minutes in our house, between 1 and 3pm), they were non-communicative (they entered and left without saying hello or goodbye), and they were thieves (they took a 42" plasma tv, and filled a pillow case with two laptops, Belle's Nintendo DSI XL game, Audrey's jewelery boxes, and some coin banks).

All in all, we have decided not to use them again.  In fact, we have taken new measures to ensure that they do not return.

The property management and the police informed us that there were two other burglaries in our neighborhood within the past two weeks.  Our homeowners' insurance policy has a small deductible, and we will easily replace our laptops and tv.  Audrey's jewelry, mostly, had more sentimental meaning than actual pawn value -- it will not be hard to know what gifts to buy for her for the next several years.  I have shown Belle how to set and use the house alarm system (not activated yesterday afternoon when the event took place) and how to lock and unlock the deadbolt -- that helped to restore her own sense of safety and well-being in her "safe-haven" home.

[To clarify, it was not a cleaning service that stole from us.  Our house was burglarized, and I used the cleaning service metaphor for the sake of dark humor.]

A few weeks ago I witnessed a man steal a push-mower from the maintenance shed at 8:40am, just as my daughter was getting onto her school bus.  He did it so blatantly out in the open, with the maintenance crew on the golf carts nearby, that I didn't even think it was a robbery until I reported it to the office later that day and they confirmed the theft.  The police were called, then, too.  But just as now, there is little chance that they will recover what was stolen or catch those that did it.


I get angry and sad to know that there are some people that are so rude and unhappy enough that they spend their time and energy in such hurtful activities.  And then I remember that they, too, are God's handiwork and we're all just doing the best we can to "get by" in this life.  I do not seek retribution as much as an answer for how to stop this from happening.

Clearly, one of our very best defenses against the bad people that do not respect us is to keep our eyes open and watch each others' homes and property.  All TAJ residents have a stake in our common property, and we all wish to keep our homes and neighborhood free of theft and crime.  Neighborhood watch means watching for suspicious activity and taking note of unusual visitors.