Sorry, but I don't find the man's situation to be about you or having to do your job as a result. Just don't find your post about it very sympathetic. Perhaps others will agree with you.

What a mess is right, Suzan. I'm sorry you're having to deal with someone else's mess, but I suppose you are pretty used to it by now. Female suicides are known to be less messy, if a woman slits her wrists she would usually do it in the bathtub. As a manager, you must have to deal with a lot of gross stuff, I imagine pools of congealed blood would be amongst the worst of it.

Good luck fixing that carpet. And good luck getting him to pay for it, too.

When my next door neighbor in an apartment where I was living shot himself and we didn't find him for 5 days, a specialized company came out to clean the apartment and take up the carpet and get rid of the mattress. They had more to deal with since he laid there dead for several days in the summer. There are special procedures to be followed when getting rid of bloody carpet. You might want to call in specialists.

WEAR GLOVES.....you don't want to get blood on you. Plus you can't just throw that carpet out can you, it's full of hazardess material (the blood). YUCK.

Vickey-MN

I'll just keep my comments to myself.

That's gross. I guess I'm not too sympathetic either because he wouldn't be come back if it was my apartment. Don't need druggies as tenants. It seems to have a lot to do with Suzan since she owns it apartment and may have other tenants to protect. Plus she has to clean up that awful mess.

I think owning rental property is way down on my list of things I'd like to do. It's definitely not easy money.

I can't blame you for not wanting to have a drunken crack user who owns a gun renting your property. Fortunately, this time he was only trying to hurt himself. I hope he gets help but that's certainly not your responsibility - to help him or to be sympathetic (and who knows whether he deserves any sympathy).

I second Linda in Iowa. You need a professional service to clean up using proper procedures for dealing with body fluids.

Addicts come with a potential host of communicable disease, hepatitis,HIV etc.

I would think health codes would require professional services in this case. Common sense does.

What a mess for you. My DH cleaned up a suicide site once for one of his teachers b/c he didn't want the husband to have to do it. A friend and I volunteered to do it but he wouldn't let us. It was a mess--her brains were all over the room. Hope you don't have bad dreams tonight.

Probably one of the worst parts about your job for sure. I don't blame you for evicting him. The neighbors need a sense of security too. Suicide, as sad as it is, is obviously not the answer. Indirectly, having lost this suite may bring him to a treatment center, where he can get help. I hope his daughter is on the up and helps him help himself. Crack cocaine isn't one of those drugs where you find a wee stash in the corner and put it in your mouth to see what it does.
Unfortunately this guy may have to hit rock bottom before he gets help.

I don't understand. Everyone is assuming, despite the words in the post, that this guy had a drug problem. She didn't say he did. She said his daughter told her "he decided to try crack cocaine." Doesn't sound like a drug problem to me. Besides that, lots of people drink and do drugs and don't try to commit suicide as a result of it. Sounds more to me like there was depression to begin with. But, I guess there are different words there than I am reading.

Bestlawn, I agree with you on this one.

Didn't say he had full blown depression either. What ever problem he had, he made it even worse. He needs some help so he can become a responsible man. I don't think the landlord needs to be the knight in shining armor. She IS doing her job, gross as it is today.

Knight in shining armor for what? I didn't say she had to. I pointed out the post was about her and the carpet with no understanding or sympathy for what he went through. Yet, everyone wanted to contradict me and label him an addict as if she painted the guy as some awful druggie, when she did not. It seems to me he has a problem with depression he needs meds for, not people blowing him off as not worth any consideration. So much for the people who post here about their own bouts with depression and bipoloar disorder. Now they know how you reeeeeeally feel about them.

Mallory - It sounds to me like you are just trying to stir things up. You stated your opinion, can you not just leave it at that.

Nope, Angela, I wasn't trying to stir anything up, but I'll be happy to leave it alone.

Mallory,

Yes, this post is about Suzan as well it should be. It's her apartment and her responsibility to see that the mess is cleaned up and that the other tenants are safe. What if the guy had been drinking, tried a little crack and instead of shooting himself had started shooting other people. Would you still be sympathetic?

I don't think anyone is blowing him off. Maybe he has a drug problem, maybe not. We don't know how many times he "decided to try crack". I think he does have problems and he needs to get help, but he must leave this apartment before he becomes Suzan's problem again. This man is a danger to himself and others.

This post is NOT about how we feel about people with depression, bipolar disorder etc. It's about the way we feel about someone who mixes alcolhol, drugs and guns.

Linda

I do sympahatize with anyone who has to clean up a mess that others made.

Seems that at least his daughter knew he had problems...alcohol/drugs or whatever, a stranger had to clean up a mess that he or others could have prevented.

Susan,

I'm sorry you had to do that awful job. I was a landlord for many years, but never had to do anything quite that awful.

I hope for your sake that it's the worst thing you ever have to do!

Just a sad thing all around. :(

Imagine what my neighbor is going through living in the same house where his wife comitted suicide last year and his daughter did the same thing there just a few days ago.

How can he go on living there? It saddens me just knowing what happened over there. :(

That is a very sad situation! I would call a specialist in as well. Sign my name to Flamey's post.

Blessings,
Haley

I'd call in a specialist as well....besides for the actual duty,but as well to avoid doing it myself.

As far as the "guy" goes..mix alcohol at any time with anything,and you have a recipe for disaster in some cases.....more often than not,a lot of ppl that drink,tend to get down on themselves and the world.

I'd have a professional restoration done.
I also have compassion for a man who's story I really don't know.
I'm amused by the various imagined scenerios drawn from the original post.

It's always so interesting to read everyone's views on something like this.
And in truth, I don't find that I am very sympathetic anymore. I used to be, but this job hardens a person very quickly.
Since I started running these 4 buildings in July of '06, I have had 1 suicide where she also killed her cat, that really upset me. I have had a murder on my front lawn. I have had two people die of drug overdoses. And now this latest fellow.
While I appreciate that there must be alot going on for them to become suicidal like this, in the job it's very hard to see past the facts of the mess, the (possible) danger to myself and the other tenants, etc.
I hope this man makes a full recovery, and while I didn't state it, there was evidence in the suite of drug use.
Thanks for pointing out about the disposal of the carpet - we are having a restoration company come this morning to remove it, I'll have to ask them what they actually do with it.
Suzan J

Suzan I understand what you mean about not being all that sympathetic any more. I don't think that means you lack compassion, I think you are just tired of these people living in your units and not respecting your property. I'll get flamed too but taking drugs,drinking and self-medicating when you are depressed and a tenant on some else's property is NOT OK.

Sounds like you are dealing with a lot of tenants on subsidized housing, am I right?

I have plenty of compassion for the mentally ill but a landlord shouldn't have to risk the security of their property or endanger the neighborhood by renting to them.

I'm glad you decided to call someone in Susan...There are some situations where it's not worth the savings or aggravations of having to deal with...My parents were landlords...some of the messes they were left with are just beyond comphrehension...I hope for brighter days ahead for you!

I just wanted to clarify I don't mean that every mentally ill person should be blacklisted. There are many people with mental illness that do not do illegal drugs and are not alcoholics.They are quite able to live independently and function on their own without being a danger to others.

But a grown man does not just suddenly decide to "try" crack on a lark. That's BS.

I've been sitting here feeling very sad, wishing that I could talk to the girl.

I hope that she gets some qualified help. Right now!

ole joyful

I didn't get the feeling that Susan was hardened to the man's plight, just stating what her job consisted of for today. People in all lines of work have a work "dialogue" concerning the people they have to deal with. Doesn't mean that they don't care about them, just that they have to have coping skills so that they can do their jobs. (Ever been in a doctors' or a teachers' lounge!? LOL)

Susan, my DH and I went over and cleaned a bathroom for a friend of our's after they found his mom had fallen, hit her head and died in the bathroom.(She had been a couple of days with no a/c on, etc.) Wasn't a gunshot wound, of course, but I can only imagine. DH used to be a first responder and he walked in on a bunch of those scenes.

Think you could introduce the name of a spice around here sometimes and stir up a tempest!! LOL

((Susan))