Scum and Villainy

Recently I have taken over the task of managing the Facebook page for my property. Which is kind of fun, since I'm getting paid to do something I've been doing for free for the past six years. It's also nice to take a break from parking catastrophes and leaky water heaters and think about something positive. After meeting with our Regional Marketing Manager (who also happens to be a good friend and fellow Sally Tomato), I had some great ideas for what to post. She mentioned highlighting strange holidays, like National Talk Like a Pirate Day or National Grilled Cheese Day, stuff meant to get peoples attention and have them discuss in depth on our page. Voila, free advertising! Social media marketing is the wave of the future after all.

Grilled Cheese is awesome.

Seeing as today is May 4th, it seemed only fitting that my inaugural status update be about Star Wars Day (if you aren't friends with any nerds, it references "May the Fourth be with you"). Here is what I said, "Happy Star Wars Day! May the Fourth be with you! What are some of your favorite Star Wars quotes?" I have to admit, I was slightly bummed that we weren't instantly bombarded with hundreds of George Lucas's best lines. So I decided to get the ball rolling with my own favorite quote:

"You will never find a more wretched 

hive of scum and villainy." 

Now, if you are complete dolt and have never seen Star Wars, this line describes the Mos Eisley Cantina, an intergalactic dive bar with some killer live music and local color. It may be somewhat obscure, but I just love how eloquently disdainful the quote is. Plus, Alec Guiness's delivery gives me goosebumps for some reason. (Sidebar, did you know that Alec Guiness hated Star Wars? Well La Di Da Mr. Shakespearian Thespian...)

The comment had been up for about a minute when I began to over think as I am wont to do, especially when sending out something that hundreds, potentially thousands of people are going to read. Think about that line again. In the context of an apartment complex Facebook page. Does it sound at all like I'm calling the property a "wretched hive of scum and villainy?" Because that's what it seemed like to me. Completely unintentional, or course. But I decided to delete it after only a few minutes. God knows how many people saw it, read it, and read that much into it. I seriously doubt they gave it any thought. I know that I tend to ignore or hide any postings from companies. But since I'm obsessive and this is Corporate America, you can't be too careful when it comes to anything permanent like that.

Yes, that is a cake. Happy Star Wars Day Indeed!

I'm publicly admitting to this blunder mostly because as soon as I took it down, I started laughing hysterically. Because on a really bad day, when people are really pissing me off, I would feel that it's not entirely inaccurate. But you just can't go around inadvertently trash talking your place of business, particularly through a medium designed to promote the darn place. Even if it is thinly veiled through a quote from an iconic seventies sci fi opera/western/epic. So far no one has provided any other quotes. But I'm determined to make this the most popular apartment company Facebook profile on the interweb, so help me Yoda!

Facebook Chat

Facebook chat is the most marvelous invention. People I wouldn't normally talk to are just a click away. It's weird though, seeing a list comprised of people I knew from elementary school in Sacramento, working at Blockbuster in college, studying abroad in France, the plane ride from Sydney to Los Angeles. It's like all these people with nothing in common whatsoever except for me. I don't talk to most of them on a regular basis, but it's nice knowing what they're up to. It's like I'm reconnecting with the person I used to be when I knew them. I'm proud when the girl I was in a play with once gets an audition for some big regional show. I'm happy for my former co-worker who I always liked but never got to know when she goes off on a month-long trip to Brazil. I even like knowing that the guy I couldn't stand in middle school returned safely from Iraq. I know this is horribly sappy and trite, but it's nice knowing that we're all still connected long after our paths have crossed and will probably never cross again. A lot of people think that these relationships are superficial. If we weren't close enough to make the effort to meet for coffee or chat on the phone, maybe this person should be left behind with our memories and former selves. But just because I only leave a message with someone once a year on their birthday (thanks to a Facebook reminder), it doesn't mean I've stopped caring about them. We may meet up someday in the future and we'll still have some semblance of a relationship thanks to this marvelous little website.

And now Facebook should pay me for such a nice review and free advertising.