Last week I had a work order fixing some drywall for this tenant. He had a leak in his apartment and the plumbers came in and ripped out all this drywall from his wall, and ripped out a lot of his ceiling.
There is actually a way to remove drywall that doesn’t involve tearing it out like a pack of wolves, but I guess these plumbers didn’t get the memo. It looked like a wild dog had chewed out the drywall instead of plumbers removing it.
So my buddy and I go in to repair the drywall after the plumbers fixed the water leak.
When we walked in there, we were smacked in the face by the strong smell of weed. Marijuana. I think we got a contact high immediately, haha.
We did our job; we had to go back 5 times to keep working over the drywall until it looked right. Each time we went back, there was always that smell, but my coworker and I never said or did anything about it.
The tenant was a nice guy, he didn’t speak a lot of English, but man, he never hassled us. We did our job and got out his way; and he got out of our way when we were doing our job. Couldn’t have gone better.
When you do work for people in their homes, you see all kinds of weird things and smell weird things… people are crazy behind closed doors, dudes, batsh*t crazy. You learn not to ask questions.
There just isn’t enough time in the day to call the cops every time we smell marijuana, or call the landlord if there’s something uncool in there, or anything like that. Well, and I’m not a douche.
And with my old criminal record from my young, dumb days (more on that some other time), what right do I have to judge?
Let people be, dudes, just let ‘em be.
Hahaha…yes, people are ‘batsh*t crazy’ behind closed doors. And with your job, you get to see a lot of that!
Plowing Through Life (Martha) recently posted..Today’s Tidbit – Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateapokaiwhenuakitanatahu
That is exactly correct
Oh please, share a “I’ve seen it all, the 10 worst things behind your doors” post! You got me curious!
Pauline recently posted..November goals and October goals review
Not a bad idea for a post. Let me think on it!
I second that. If I smell marijuana I just assume they have a medical marijuana card and continue on my way.
justin@thefrugalpath recently posted..3 Cases Where Extreme Cheapskates End Up Paying More
I agree…just let them be. Mary Jane is going to become legal in Colorado today; it’s a matter of time before it happens throughout the rest of the country.
Jason recently posted..Recipe: Corn Chowder with Chilies
Right on, man, right on.
As a former pothead, I think people should be allowed to smoke a little bit of the wacky tobacky. It sounds like it’s getting voted to become legal in Washington state too. It will interesting to see how that affects the marijuana industry here in BC. I think a lot of the stuff grown here was smuggled down to Washington.
Modest Money recently posted..Saving Money By Making Homemade
I heard somewhere that that was one argument for legalization. WA losing alot of money to Canada because of cross-border smuggling. If it passes, WA gets tax money and stuff. I think alcohol is more dangerous than pot, so it makes sense to legalize it and make tax money off it!
Agreed! Alcohol is so much more dangerous. Let’s hope the fed hops on board, too. Or at least doesn’t interfere. I think Orgeon’s up for it today, as well.
femmefrugality recently posted..Lifestyle Carnival 27th Edition: Holiday Stress
Colorado is also voting on the issue. My father-in-law is such a big pot head (or “old hippy” as he calls himself) that he moved out here when they legalized medical marijuana!
Edward Antrobus recently posted..Is the Fiscal Cliff Really That Bad?
I think you made the right call. What goes on behind other people’s doors is their business and as long as they’re not hurting you then let it be. I bet you’ve seen some crazy a$$ things being in your job. I really do think you should do a post on it some day.
John S @ Frugal Rules recently posted..Festival of Frugality #361, Election Day Edition
Haha, I plan to, thanks for the suggestion!
What about the other way around? Years back I had new carpet installed in my condo and after the guys left for lunch and came back, you could tell that they’d been smoking something stronger than cigarettes. I kept an eye on them much more closely through the afternoon and didn’t give them a tip which I know you often do with carpet guys, because that was unprofessional and I figure they’d tipped themselves over lunch.
Money Beagle recently posted..How Low Mortgage Rates Will Help Prevent Another Housing Crash
That’s pretty unprofessional. Like any other job, we’re not supposed to show up at the job sites under the influence of anything, so that sucks that they came back from lunch high. Probably made them take longer to do the job, too! Sometimes there have been problems with dudes showing up to job sites drunk where I work…but not very often, because blue collar dudes aren’t hard to find these days and so if you mess up, you get fired fast! Pretty ballsy of those carpenters.
One of my coworkers once worked at a shop and they asked him straight up if he smoked. They weren’t looking to not hire a pot smoker, but looking to hire someone they could smoke up with at work all day long.
Edward Antrobus recently posted..A Day in the Life of Road Construction
Exactly, people need to mind their business. It’s their home, why bother doing anything about it. NOW, unless they’re holding a hostage in the basement, that’s a different story
Veronica @ Pelican on Money recently posted..10 Fastest Growing Jobs in 2013
Well sure, I draw the line at hostages and murders.
I’d almost rather have a pot smoker than a heavy cigarette smoker in my place. At least they would be mellow tenants. Maybe they even have glaucoma or back aches and are doing it for medicinal purposes!
Kim@Eyesonthedollar recently posted..Rental Property Series: Let’s Drink to Having Tenants
That’s true too, you never know if someone is doing it for medical reasons or for fun, so don’t make waves where there doesn’t need to be any!
What do I do when I smell it? Laugh and shake my head. Well, that’s what I did last time I smelled it. I didn’t even know what it was! My husband and I were taking a walk and his eyes got really big and he asked me “you smell that?” I said “yeah, what is it?” He told me and we decided it was probably coming from our antisocial neighbor’s garage. Sitting in your garage getting high in the middle of the day? Such a loser.
Michelle recently posted..Security For The Best Things In Life
I agree, TB. Unless the guy had dead bodies hidden in the cellar and you just happen to come across them, there really wasn’t a need to call the police or contact the landlord. As you put it, “Let people be, dudes, just let ‘em be.”
Anthony Thompson recently posted..Self Manager – 5 Factors that Will Make You a Cool Leader Like Tyler Perry
As a landlord, I think that as long as they are not housing a grow op or simultaneously engaging in other hard drug use that might prevent them from being employed and paying me rent, I would let it be.
CF recently posted..Paying off $27,000 in student loans
Yeah… weed’s not really a big deal around here. It’s not unusual to catch a whiff of something herbal walking about in some fashionable neighborhoods!
leaf (the indolent cook) recently posted..recent delights: spring, antojitos & cocktails, quinoa
What to do… Uhmmmm…. Ask for a brownie?
Funny about Money recently posted..Summoned by Sheriff Joe
LOL. I live in BC. I smell it getting out of my car to go to work, walking down the sidewalk to go for dinner, entering into apartment buildings, everywhere. It’s not biggie. It’s not legal here yet but nobody cares if you smoke it.
Daisy recently posted..What I Bought This Week
I never pay much attention to it. I just pass on by and leave them be.
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Weed isn’t really that bad, like others mentioned, alcohol is probably worse. I wouldn’t have said anything either, it’s not like they were teaching babies to cook meth or shooting up kittens.
Jen @ Master the Art of Saving recently posted..Schools Letting Kids Spend Parent’s Money Without Permission
Yeah, really not a biggie.
When once viewing a potential flat I opened up what would be my wardrobe and found a bunch of budding pot plants.
(He was a cool guy though and I ended up moving in.)
I’ve also lived in a number of flats where weed was smoked all the time and even sold (not so keen on the latter). It’s so common here. I just personally hate the smell – I think it’s disgusting – is all.
It’s the harder stuff that we should worry about.
eemusings recently posted..Self promotion WITHOUT crossing the line into douchebaggery
I work in tech support, and right now I work on a DOD facility. Our duties are spelled out pretty well. If I come across a machine with an obvious case of violation of Acceptable Use policy, my job is to tell my supervisor. Period. He has his directives as well, but once I tell him, it’s out of my hands. IF–and only if–I am asked to provide information that would be requested only for investigative purposes, my job is to provide the information–that’s all, nothing else. IF as an independent service provider, I come across something illegal, I would have to ask myself several questions regarding how to handle it. For example, how did this information come to my knowledge. I have no call to be reading a customer’s emails; I have no call to be reading or examining cookies. I have no call to be browsing locally stored files–UNLESS the customer was paying me to do so. A simple clean up or repair job would not warrant snooping. However, if the customer was paying me to investigate HIS property–for example, if the customer was a business owner who suspected his employees were surfing porn sites on company computers–the only call I have is to fulfil what the customer is asking. ANd that is only to search for violations of policy. If I were to boot a machine and the desktop image is child pornograpy, I would return the machine and refuse the work. I would explain to the customer that I was not comfortable with the image I saw when I booted the machine. On the chance that the customer is unaware of the image, it is not my place to alert law enforcement. I have a line in the sand where I would call, but when there is ONE possibility of innocence on the part of the customer, I do not feel that I have witnessed a crime. I have to operate on the presumption of innocence, I am not a law enforcement officer, and I really have no interest in snooping files and email belonging to other people. Some stuff can be tough calls, but as long as it isn’t making me uncomfortable, it’s really none of my business.
Nancy Jones recently posted..I’m not Mr. Tanner
That’s intresting. It makes sense to operate on ‘innocent until proven guilty’ and is the most fair.