This is why we can't have nice things

My folks used to have a shop located inside of a mall. They worked hard to make it pleasant for the people who stopped in, and part of that was putting out a small fridge near the front desk and telling guests that they were free to choose from an array of sodas while they waited. It was a nice gesture.

Patrons of the mall apparently caught onto this, and my folks started getting people who was stroll in, open the fridge, take a soda, then just leave, ignoring anyone who even said hello to them. It was becoming a more and more frequent occurrence.

The last straw was when one of the staff saw a lady pointing to the store and whispering to her young kid. The kid then strolled into the store, ignored the greeting from the staff, opened the fridge, took both arms full sodas, then turned and thing without a word. Several adults came in within the next few days and did the same thing: grabbed both arms full of sodas and left.

The staff then removed the refrigerator from the lobby and kept it in the back. After that, there were large amount of people would confidently saunter in, falter when they didn't see the fridge anymore, search around a bit, and then leave, never to return again.

Some even demanded to know where the "free drinks" went, one even going so far as to ask the staff "could you go get a few for me?"

People suck.

I've been a resident of a condo complex since 2020. I wanted to be an active member in our community so I joined the team of five members of the administration of the underground parking lot. We manage everything that has to do with the parking including maintenance, repairs, inspections, budget, fees, complaints, etc.

When I first moved and joined the team, the major problem with the parking was the garage door. It was a regular old residential garage door with foldable panels kind of like this. It was unsuitable for the size of our garage and the number of cars. It was soon broken when people failed to stop in the incline in the winter and rammed through the door. Wheels broke off, cables snapped, the guide rails and the door panels became crooked, etc. The door was completely busted and was stuck approximately once every month and cost us near 1k$ in repair each time. And other residents were increasingly frustrated of being stuck inside or outside the parking every time.

I decided to take the initiative of replacing the door with a new fancy impact-resistant, fast rolling rubber curtain door. It took two years to complete this project. From seeking out submissions from various providers, negotiating prices, asking the other co-owners for the go-ahead, and all the delays due to supply chain issues for the materials. And on top of it all, on the day of the delivery and installation, the providers found out they screwed up the measurements and had to stop and leave the old door. We had to seek advice from engineers to see if we could cut through some cement in the foundation to install the new door, if it could damage the foundation, check the costs and it was all becoming way over budget. Finally we asked for a second opinion and found a way to make it fit as-is.

Last week we were FINALLY getting our new garage door installed for real this time. We told the residents a week prior and a few days ahead that absolutely NO passage was going to be allowed through the garage door during that day and the next for the safety of the technicians and the residents. Then the technicians came over, took apart the old door and installed the new one. After about 4 hours the new door was mounted and ready to be hooked up to power.

Well ONE resident, who was aware that no circulation through the door was allowed, decided that HE was too important and absolutely HAD to go. As he went to his car, our janitor told him that it was strictly forbidden to leave through the garage door today and tomorrow. But the guy insisted and imposed himself. I just had the time to move the technician's tools out of the way and he rushed through the door, And guess what...

The whole right side of his car scraped the brand spanking new garage rail. The caulking round the rail wasn't even DRY. He scraped the protective paint off the guard, bent the obstruction photo-sensor. and cut the photo-sensor wire. I fucking SCREAMED. I let out a couple of swear words.

The guy got out of his car and YELLED AT ME! He commanded me "DO NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING TO ME LIKE THAT?" Like, are you stupid? We TOLD you you weren't allowed to exit the garage. The door is brand fucking new and you fucking scraped your car on the brand new rail that was JUST installed and you're asking me why I'm swearing? He accused me of disrespecting him, he yelled at me, threatened me and complained how his beat up old 2001 Civic was damaged because of the door and then he left. I swear I was so mad I couldn't sleep for two nights.

He's known around the residence for being an entitled asshole who believes the rules don't apply to him. He rents a unit and thinks because he rents, he doesn't have to follow the rules. That fucker doesn't even pay condo fees like the rest of us. And apparently, his entire building was renovated and had new painted walls and new carpets, and the very same week they finished the renovations, he decided to move some large heavy boxes and scraped the entire wall in his hall and tore off parts of the brand new carpet and he refused to pay for the damages. He's a fucking sociopath.

It's because of people like him that we can't have nice things.