Ode to Spokane in the Summertime
I love working downtown. I love owning and operating a downtown small business. I look forward to the regulars who pass by daily… we are a family of familiar strangers. The lawyer who checks everyday to make sure our door is safely locked, the teams of the employees freckled through the upstairs office spaces, who always smile and wave. Even the crotchety old man who walks by every day at 5:01 at a snails speed only to emerge with vigor and reckless pep from the underground parking garage in his souped-up, impeccable, sunflower yellow, VW Karmen ghia. (he never waves but i still look forward to seeing him).
Now that the sun has flexed its temperate muscles, there has been an influx of people whom I have never seen before. Most are talking to themselves and carry with them a smell I cannot do justice to with verbal explanation… you sort of just “feel” it upon passing. We are in an area where certain transient hunter and gatherers like to take a load off, and long pulls from their Mad Dog 20/20 in our store front oasis. The shady side on a one-way street. It is a great place to do doors-locked-business (us), as well as delirious-as-little-as-possible (them). Our office is situated among the “best of Spokane” seedy bar scene. I really do enjoy it. there is endless creativity that stems from my surroundings.
Now, if I have accurately painted the picture of my environment, you may get a kick out of the latest email exchange that took place between our building management company and myself.
July 13, 2012 AM
Hello (********), I am a tenant in the Hutton building and I was wondering if the building was scheduled to be pressure washed again this summer as it has been in the years passed. My reason for the urgency of the question is because there is a big pile of vomit outside our front door. I have attached a photo of just one of our past after hours visitors. I can only imagine whose supper is at our front door. We have washed away what we can but this is now a job for the professionals.
Thank you and please advise to when this can be taken care of. Happy Friday.
The REPLY:
We have been pressure washing the sidewalks regularly for weeks now. We will look into ulterior options being as multiple people have attempted to remove this mess and pressure washing didn’t do anything. Thanks for letting us know!
My REPLY to their REPLY:
Maybe our pile of vomit is different then the pile of vomit mess whos removal was attempted. The only reason I think this is because there is no evidence of pressure washing in our alcove… there is dirt/filth/grime that has far more longevity than a couple weeks. There was a needle casing there for the past 3 weeks that I had to ask to be removed by a green team member. Thank you for staying on top of this as i know and understand keeping these downtown businesses free from deification is a continuous and ongoing battle.
P.S. I dont know if you know who handles the business between the 2 parking garages but if you do they may benefit from the knowledge of the unbelievable stench that now resonates from their stoop…. I dont think it is quite dead body but it may be a close second.
Thank you again.
Happy Friday all, come visit anytime.
