In most other parts of the country I would be living in a two-bedroom house with an attached garage and a yard. What I have here is a one-bedroom, detatched garage and a little patio. I pay about $1,300 a month PLUS UTILITIES. Oh yea, it's a gated community but the gates may as well just stay open. One person with a remote will open the gate and then 6-12 other cars will scoot through. You also do NOT need a remote to get out because there is a pressure sensor that opens the gate automatically.

I also do NOT live in a HIGH END apartment; those go for $1,800 - $2,000 a month and MOST do NOT allow dogs. Even if I could afford it I couldn't live in one of these places anyway. I noticed some new construction and it reminds me of New York City and their co-ops. They are 3-5 stories high and have little tiny balconies. Who in their right mind would like to live on the fifth floor? I suppose if you are fat on dough you just hire someone to do your groceries and bring them up. What a pain in the butt it would be to bring a Christmas tree! I just don't understand why anyone would want to live this way.

So I am in this place that is VERY high density with every, race, religion and culture represented. A LARGE percentage of the population does not speak English and I have seen bedrooms with 2-3 SETS of bunk beds in them. So in some circumstances you have 1-2 or more adults and 4-6 children sharing a 2-bedroom apartment. I have also seen living rooms with a set of bunk beds in a 1-bedroom apartment.

I just figure "Live and let live and it is just NONE of my business unless it affects me directly".

There is NO gang problem, NO grafitti and the kids are well behaved. Oh there are a few "wanta be" gangsters with their hoods and baggy falling down pants, but they are basically good kids. They call me "Coach" or "Hey Fool" and I ask how they are doing in school. I don't look for them but they just seem to find me when I am either coming or going.

The problem here is NOT the people with a ton of kids getting by as best as they can; it's the 20-30 something crowd and their ENTITLED ATTITUDE.

It is like they have a reasonable job, furniture, social life and a nice car. They also want to be a BIG FISH in a VERY small and diverse pond. They can't hack the "PREPPY PALACES" because they don't make the money or know the right people. They also drive a pick-up, little Honda or something similar. They can't afford the BMW or Mercedes that is REQUIRED at the other places.

So here we have these people that think that they are SPECIAL and the RULES do NOT APPLY to them! They press the envelope in EVERY ASPECT and the management allows it.

The biggest problem is the irresponsible dog owners. Their dogs are ALWAYS off leash as if this whole place was THEIR backyard. When I have asked them to leash their dogs the immediately get confrontational. I just do NOT understand this attitude.

My dog, Bob, is ALWAYS on a leash, loves other dogs and people and FREAKS when he sees a dog off-leash. He would LOVE to chase and play, but he has been attacked TWICE by two dogs off leash. He even had a problem with a dog on leash so he is just a little defensive around other dogs, which I understand.

For the last couple of months I have had this ongoing problem with this woman and her dog. Her dog looks like a Chow, Husky mix and is ALWAYS off leash. She also has NO control over the dog when the dog charges toward Bob; she screams his name and he just keeps coming. I have been prepared to give her dog a swift kick several times, but it hasn't been necessary.

The lease specifically states that dogs are to be leashed at all times and when I have asked her nicely to leash her dog and control him, IT IS MY FAULT and I am "MEAN". What is UP with THAT? If her dog went about his business and didn't mess with Bob I couldn't care less if he were on a leash or not. The problem is that HER LACK of RESPONSIBILITY and CONSIDERATION mess with ME. It is just so typical of this age group; I should modify my LIFE to accomidate THEIR NEEDS, WANTS and DESIRES. I can NOT imagine how she would react if her neighbor played music too loud, too late or music that didn't fit her personal tastes.

She could bve a nice looking woman if she cleaned up a bit. She is tall and has long blonde hair. When I see her it's always wet and stringy. I just do NOT understand how she can get so DEFENSIVE and CONFRONTATIONAL when she is DROP DEAD WRONG. Oh well, another SPOILED PRINCESS that the world gets to live with. If she is divorced or never married, I can certainly understand why.

I have to walk down to the office to put more money on my laundry card and would like to take Bob. The thing that ANGERS me is that I just don't want the ATTITUDE if she is out with her dog.

Then you have the two families across from me. The party boys upstairs and the adult Hispanic boys living with their mother below.

The party boys have been GOOD since my first little chat with them; they were partying until 1-2 AM and it was going outside and underneath my bedroom window. I have done my share of partying and completely understand, just keep it INSIDE and down after 11 PM. They even invited me up one night and I declined; probably would have scared them to death.

The Hispanic boys used to have a bunch of "wanta be" gangsters hanging out and drinking under age and I ran them off. I just told them to take it inside and enjoy.

The party boys and the Hispanics boys got into it the other night at 3 AM! It seems the party boys woke up the Hispanic boys mother and how is she going to get up for work so we can lay around the house and watch TV all day.

The Hispanic boys aren't real swift but they are BIG! One sports this HUGE fake diamond ear-ring that makes me laugh; if he could afford that kind of bling, what the hell is he doing living here.

The posturing went on for about an hour; two BIG Hispanics and 12 DRUNK paty boys. It could have turned into a REAL mess if anybody had thrown a punch. They finally all went inside and I figured I could get another couple of hours sleep.

I had just started to drift off again when the cops showed up at the Hispanic boys apartment.

Now this is interesting. The two BIG BOYS hid behind their door and wouldn't open it; this speaks highly of their character; they were ready to fight, but NOT answer to authority and explain. HUM, how does that work?

The next evening I ran into the Hispanic boys and asked then to stop and talk. They were FULL of ATTITUDE with the "MAMMA THING" and I just said, "I don't care who did what, who was right or who was wrong. I just do NOT like it at 3 AM.

They looked at me for a few seconds and said, "Did YOU call the cops"?

I let it hang for a minute and responded, "Nope, if it gets out of control they wouldn't be her in time to make a difference, so I deal with it myself".

The one with the earring looked at me and said, "Yea sure old man".

"Think what you want "nino", but I do NOT push easily. I do NOT care what you do we all have to get along. Have a good evening" and that was that.

I neglected to tell them my Hispanic nickname becaue it only would have inflamed the situation. I just figure Live and let live.