After reading the response from the maintenance man to Ms. Whitney Harris, I knew that I needed to comment on this issue. I do not know whether or not Ms. Harris is a resident in the University Village but I am, and have been for 3 years. So my comments will be anything but gossip, but rather personal experience and therefore factual.
Mr. Timothy Smith in his response continually complained about the duties of his job, which I am sure were clearly explained to him when applying for a position as a maintenance man. Being a maintenance man involves unclogging toilets regardless of what they are clogged with. Why? Because this is part of the job. Complaining about the odor of a room is irrelevant; the smell of someone’s room need not be a concern of yours because we are not asking you to scrub the carpets or Febreze the room. Your duty is to fix whatever is broken regardless of how it broke, or whose “cousin or baby’s mother” did it.
It is obvious to see that you are concerning yourself with things that hold no importance when maintaining the Village. I continually see maintenance staff riding around the village with one leg hanging out of their carts, more concerned with flirting with Prairie View A&M female students than fixing Prairie View A&M housing. I am aware that it is not all the maintenance staff but it is a majority and it is unacceptable. The carts are to be used to come to the “rescue” of the residents, though I can say I have never had a maintenance man come to my rescue or the rescue of anyone I know. It is often days before maintenance arrives to fix anything. This is understandable due to the number of requests that go to their office, but to say they “come to our rescue” is a bit of a stretch.
I am very sure that if the maintenance men responded as quickly to the problems in the Village as they did to the article in The Panther, a lot of the gossip would decrease. Maybe, just maybe if Mr. Smith is having issues fulfilling the duties of his job and is unhappy with the environment where he is obviously forced to be, he should go into another line of work.
–Asheli Atkins