Yesterday I got a phone call from the reception desk of our apartment building. "A messenger will come to your home," the young woman said.
Messenger? I thought. What messenger? Fedex had already delivered a package, and our organic veggies had arrived in the morning. I wasn't expecting anything else.
Then...knock, knock, knock.
It was our building manager...a kind young woman who had chosen "Rain" as her English name.
"Hello Rain," I said. It took a few minutes for her to respond as she focused on getting the blue surgery-type booties over her high heels.
"Hello," she finally said, and when she looked at me, I could see that she'd been crying. She was very upset, and this was unusual. "Your driver is very rude," she finally spit out. I could see that she was mortified that she had to come up to our apartment to tell me this. We have a good relationship and she's always been very helpful.
During the next few minutes, I discovered that our driver, Mr. C, had once again taken to sleeping on the big leather couches in our apartment lobby. With his shoes off! His stinky shoes! He's also been smoking in our locker room and having extremely loud phone conversations in public spaces. After a number of residents complained, Rain felt as if she needed to address the problem.
So yesterday, she approached Mr. C while he was sleeping in the lobby, woke him, and kindly asked him not to sleep there. And then our Mr. C flipped out. He yelled at Rain. (And Mr. C can yell; I've seen him do it in traffic.)
"Yelled at you?" I said to Rain, to make sure I understood.
She nodded and grimaced. Clearly the memory of the incident was upsetting.
Then, she told me, he called all the other drivers to gather on the couches in the lobby.
"A sit-in?" I asked.
Rain didn't understand the term, but she explained again. "Yes, they all sit."
And so, for the rest of the day, the drivers gave her a hard time. Led by the ringleader, our Mr. C.
Today in our mailbox, we found a notice issued to all residents. "Dear Valued Resident, We found some chauffeurs sitting in the lobby sofas and their behaviors indelicate...."
Now I'm mortified. And pissed off. Mr. C always pushes the boundaries, but this is over the top. To yell at Rain? One of the nicest people I know here...
Watch out, Mr. C...
Comments