My Custodian

Every residence hall on the UW Oshkosh campus has at least one custodian, some have more than one. Breese Hall has only one custodian, but she does the work of two more custodians. You could say that our custodian is both a blessing and a curse. She keeps Breese Hall very clean, probably the cleanest residence hall on campus. But, with this comes a few problems. One, to keep the building clean she in turn wants to bill residents for any messes that are left in the hall. Some are legitimate and some are a little overboard. She also has a gruff personality and is not exactly personable.

Our custodian has not talked to me in weeks. I can walk right by her, or her by me, and she will not say anything to me. She has communicated with me purely through notes. I find myself wondering if this is necessarily a bad thing. In my first few years as an RHD, she would often come into my office and talk for hours about all sorts of random stuff. Sometimes I appreciated our conversations and sometimes I was really busy, but it doesn't happen anymore. I wonder if I perhaps did something to offend her: not have something cleaned up, not charge for a CAD slip, etc. I could assume that while she is not talking to me, she is likely talking to others in the building about me...most likely referring to one of the above concerns.

What I am trying to figure is: does it matter? Should I be happy knowing that I have a little more peace and quiet and the building is still clean (although trash talking is likely happening)? or Should I try to mend whatever problem there is so that I know where I stand with her?

Errata: Abby points out that the ceiling fan in my apartment is not the first major change to the Breese apartment since I've been there. In my first year, they did install a washer and dryer. I suppose O should say it was the first Breese RHD initiated change to the apartment.