Why must people half-ass stuff?

[Reverend_Smitty]

I moved into my on campus apartment last week to find that the place was trashed. Apparently 5 guys had the place last year and they did not give a damn about their living conditions. The floors and cabinets were all sticky, the bathroom was filthy complete with peeling paint and broken tiles. There was a giant whole in the wall, some electrical outlets were missing covers (yep exposed wires folks) and the internet jack in my bedroom was broken. (it was pushed into the wall and only one of two jacks were working). And don't even get me started on what the mattresses looked like.

So of course my roommate and I complain to res life on Wed.(there are 4 of us total but only 2 of us are here early). So I come back to the apartment today (I went home last night) to find that some of the stuff was fixed. The hole in the wall was patched (so that saves me nightmares of giant rats crawling out of it), the tiles were fixed but the peeling paint remains along with the filthy floors and tub. The internet jack was fixed but still only one side works. The exposed wires remain as do the dirty mattresses (we pawned them off to our other roommates and kept the two newer ones). Instead of doing all the stuff that needs to be done in one shot they half-assed the job and now I must call and complain some more in the morning. (we were promised that our apartment would be cleaned by Thursday afternoon...and it is now almost Tuesday) I hate res life and I hate living in this glorified crack house...it's going to be an interesting year.

[William769]

1. I don't half ass anything

I'm a full ass!

[Clintmax]

2. Heya, Rev.

It drives me up the freakin wall too when people half-ass everything. It seems like people to as little as they can just to "get by" with it. I don't do that shit. When I get done, it's DONE. I hope you have a good semester, though. Good luck!
:hi:

[Reverend_Smitty]

4. You think they would just get all the stuff done in one shot

that way they don't have to come back and I don't have to waste time calling and complaining every day...I mean the open outlets are a friggen fire hazard! I've been dealing with res life going on 4 years now and I swear they find the most unhelpful and snotty people in South Jersey and give them a job there. I wish that we could switch living arrangements for a week with them and see how they like living like animals in these dirt bag places

[seriousstan]

8. They are university employees, stretching this job out continues a

precedents that was started long ago. Think union. The university doesn't complain because it ALWAYS takes this long to do the work.

[Ready4Change]

10. Depending on the university

They may not be union. They may be lucky to be a tad ahead of minimum wage. The university I used to work at used the constant threat of funds cuts to motivate people, including motivating them into working for years while MAYBE getting cost of living increases in pay.

They may have to provide their own tools. They may have to purchase their own uniforms. They likely have no office, no desk, no place to call their workplace "home." They may be treated like the untouchables of campus.

All that may not be an excuse for their behavior. But it might still be the reason.

Just my .02

[seriousstan]

12. I didn't mean they were union, merely referring to a known example.

Most universities that I know are not unionized. However, the comparison stands.

As for minimum wage, I will admit that the raises are paltry if at all existent, but they are way above minimum.

[Ready4Change]

13. Not where I worked.

3 years straight, got 1/2 cost of living raises. And I was working at a job where that 1/2 made a measurable difference in my check. The people working building maintenance may as well have gotten nothing.

Some of them worked like demons. Hard working, tireless, maybe not good humored, but doing what they could in an environment that pretty clearly considered them expendable. Where they found the motivation I'll never know.

Managers were on their asses. The clients, be they students, faculty or staff, were on their asses.

Am I saying your particular workers are saints? No. But I'm presenting the possibility that they did the best they could. It might not be them, as individuals. It might be the university culture itself.

[seriousstan]

14. 3 years is still entry level. I started at minimum but stuck it out

and am now approaching retirement. Am I highly paid? NO. But it has been a very enjoyable and informative ride.

I wouldn't judge a job by it's treatment in the first 3 years. Those are the "journeyman" years where you get very little more the "shit" for your troubles. After a few years, by this I mean 5-8, you should start th gain respect and income. The mentality at that stage is that you are consistent and establishing your life. That is why you are usually vested in your 5th or 7th year.

[Ready4Change]

16. I worked there 10.

I was a PC techie there. My pay was good for the universites standards, but crap for industry standards. Got me past the dot com bubble, though, so I can't really complain.

However, my job put me in constant contact with the people who maintained the university infrastructure. I can complain about THEIR pay. They were paid and treated like dogs. When it came time to vote to unionize I voted for it. Not because I needed it, but because I knew THEY needed it, badly.

I can see, in hindsight, how things degraded over the years for the basic workers there. That was my experience. Yours apparently was different. That's a good thing. I hope mine is the exception, not the rule.

[sendero]

11. That's America!

And people wonder why we are heading for a fall :(

[Tallison]

3. We lived like rats

my first two years of college. Rented the living room out as practice space to a band called Trizacta. Traffic signs, animals everywhere. And ours was a housefull of women...

[Reverend_Smitty]

5. wow

that would have driven me crazy, I may be a college student but I am a neat freak. I can't wait until next year when I am in grad school and will have better living arrangements WITHOUT roommates!

[OldLeftieLawyer]

7. That's funny

The house we lived in was called "Rodent Palace."

We had some GREAT times there, I must say.

I think.

It was the sixties. Who remembers?

[seriousstan]

9. That was the 80's for me. What? Where?

[Tallison]

18. Exactly! But I remember the practice band was hair metal

:wtf:

[seriousstan]

6. You think a little thing like a wall can stop rats?? Newb. Sleep tight

don't let the rats bite your face off.

Really, be thankful what is fixed is fixed. This is the norm. If you were on "the outside" renting from an individual I would tell you to try to be polite and receptive to your landlord and the improved personal relationship would pay dividends. However, in this case the squeaky wheel will get the grease.

I work in a university and know this to be the fact.

[PassingFair]

15. This reminds me of my favorite saying, from my dear departed father:

Any job worth doing;
is worth doing half-assed!


I miss him so.....

[gardenista]

17. Awwww, your dad sounds like a fun, laid back guy. nt