Maintenance!
By J.M. Snyder
Going back to work the Monday after a hurricane is hell when you’re the only maintenance man for a 130-apartment complex. My official title is “manager” but let’s be serious here—who am I managing? There’s Shonda, the girl at the office who fields calls from residents, and there’s me.
The storm blew through over the weekend, leaving flooded roads, toppled trees, and downed power lines in its wake. A quarter of a million people lost their electricity, including an entire row of our townhouses on one street when a tree took out their transformer. I came in Monday with a line of work orders already waiting for me—many from the people without power, like I was going to be much help until the power company got that line back up.
The rest of the orders ranged fro
