<p>I had my door shut, but the lock wasn’t working so I figured whatever I’ll take a nap anyway.
I woke up because my dog barked and I saw my door shutting, someone had come into my room.</p>
<p>I went into the hallway and the janitor was at the next room. When he saw me he said he had thought my door was the office (which is down the hall on the left). My door has several signs on it, including one with a warning that I have dogs in my room. He was so lucky my other dog isn’t here right now, that dog wouldn’t have been so kind about someone coming in the room.</p>
<p>I asked the man for his name and his dept, not to be mean, but so I could call them and tell them what happened and remind them that I’m in this room (which hasn’t been occupied for a long time). The guy said he would get in trouble and refused to give me his name or that of his supervisor. I told him I needed the dept he worked for so I could tell them I’m in here, and find out when someone would fix the lock. He said he didn’t know what department he worked for, but gave me the number to call and check up on the lock thing.</p>
<p>Mostly I’m just ranting because I had a panic attack because of this, and now I can’t leave my room because I feel like someone is out there waiting for me to leave. (It’s an irrational fear. I know that. I’ll be able to handle it once my meds kick in). More to the point, shouldn’t he have given me his name, or at the very least his department? Should I still tell the two possible departments he may have been from? I don’t buy that he didn’t know which department he works for. I’m not entirely rational right now, so I’m not sure how to go about handling this.</p>
<p>Right now, I suggest you refer to an RA to Community Director to see if they can direct you to the appropriate department. They may know what types of people would be allowed into the office/“oops, your room.”[Though, are you the person who has the crappy RAs who posted recently about it? If they’re not helpful, then speak to someone higher in residence life. They’re generally nice people.] Contact the department and ask if their workers would have access to that part of your dorm. Mostly it’s maintenance and custodians. Attempt to describe the man, including what he was wearing [any name badge, a uniform, keys in his pockets, anything you may have noticed].</p>
<p>I don’t mean to scare you any more, but there have been several people on my campus who have broken into dorms when they pretended to be maintenance people or custodians. People just look at them, hear their job title, and let them tailgate. Then they go to each room, tap on the handle to find which are unlocked, and go in to steal. If he didn’t give you his name, there’s a small chance it’s because his “department” wouldn’t have recognized it.</p>
<p>There was a specific janitor assigned to clean that hallway at that time, so you could contact the administration, ask what department is responsible for janitors, then tell them and they’ll find out. It sounds like it was an honest mistake, though. Is anything missing?</p>
<p>Anyway, I’m sorry about your fear. Hopefully you can get your lock fixed soon. However, you have your dogs, so that’s a major line of defense. I wish you the best of luck.</p>
<p>Edit - given the possibility voiced by the above poster, if the department identifies the janitor in that general area, confirm that it was actually him.</p>
<p>It’s sounds as though it may have been an honest mistake. </p>
<p>In the meantime. follow up on getting the lock fixed ASAP. Fixing a lock should be given priority status with any maintenance crew at a college.</p>
<p>Well yeah, he definitely SHOULD have given his name.</p>
<p>I guess now you should go to housing, tell them the situation, and identify the janitor (by picture or whatever). There are probably only a few janitors working in the building, so it shouldn’t be too hard.</p>
<p>Dude this was not an honest mistake. This guy, whether he was a real maintenance guy or not, was trying to rob you. You let him get away with it by not getting his name or department. At likely every college, by policy, he HAS to tell you that information if you requested it. The fact that he refused alone makes him look shady and is likely grounds for suspension or termination. </p>
<p>Remember his description, the time this occurred, and exactly what he said to you. Record it an contact the office. First find out if his description matches the guy who was suppose to be cleaning your room, and if it does let him know he refused to give his information or even his department at your request so that he could avoid getting in trouble for the break in.</p>
<p>A lot of college students come from sheltered areas and are really naive about these kinds of things. Resolve this and let us know how it goes!</p>
<p>Twitmouse- It seems you need to get someone representing the college for Disabled Students to come see your dorm room/living conditions and get all the problems addressed at once.
Email the disabled students department today and ask for a meeting in your dorm so you can show them all the problems-RA noise, broken lock, inadequate signage indicating a room occupant, intruder into your room, etc.<br>
Make a copy of the dated email for your records.
Make a laundry list of problems to present to the representative.
If they fail to comply then you need to contact the Dean of Students.</p>
<p>No one is supposed to be cleaning my room at all. There are inspections periodically, but none are scheduled yet and they are always announced. </p>
<p>Also, I don’t really have a description of the guy. I’m partially blind, and this woke me up so I wasn’t even wearing my glasses. I know he had on a baseball hat and sunglasses. He stayed down the hall from me when I was talking to him, but got closer when I said I was blind. Which helped exactly none because I still couldn’t see. </p>
<p>I checked, nothing was taken from the room. I’m a very heavy sleeper, and it’s possible that the barking took a few minutes to wake me. But nothing is missing. </p>
<p>Thankfully all my money, IDs, good pills (I’m prescribed narcotics) and such is put in my mini safe overnight and the dog has the key, so good luck with that :P. I know that sounds paranoid, but I used to live in a hospital so it’s just a habit for me. </p>
<p>I looked at the online directory, and found the head of custodial. Should I email, call and leave a message, or wait until tomorrow and go to his office? No one is really here today, because of the holiday. </p>
<p>And the lock is now fixed. Which makes me feel much better. </p>
<p>@AtomicCafe - I was having problems with RAs, but it’s since been sorted out. A few don’t like me still, but I don’t have to deal with them if I don’t want to. In fact a nice RA helped me out the night before last, when another student threatened to kill my guide dog.</p>
<p>That was not the first time that’s happened (in fact someone once set their dog on her, now she sometimes walks on 3 legs). People get idiotic around guide dogs it seems. This person dropped a hackysack ball in front of my dog and then screamed NO at her and then grabbed the ball and said if your dog touched this i’d kill it. It’s been reported and dealt with.</p>
<p>Seriously, you NEED to talk to the Disability Resource Center about everything that’s happened, whether it’s been resolved or not. You’ve only been on campus a few weeks at the most, and all this has already happened. It’s their job to advocate for you, and I’m sure there are other students in the dorms or elsewhere on campus going through the same thing.</p>
<p>The lock not working. The RAs being disrespectful. The a-hole floor mates threatening your guide dog. Some random dude walking into your room. You shouldn’t be enduring all of this! No one should! Definitely get in contact with someone about this.</p>
<p>I have an appt with disability on tuesday. Just to clarify that attack on my dog I mentioned was well over a year ago, didn’t happen here. Just showing that people get stupid with dogs.
Seriously though this is fairly normal for me. Things tend to not go right for me, and usually just turn downright strange. It’s like I’m a stupid situation magnet or something.
And people wonder why I’ve developed panic disorder. :P</p>
<p>Just to clear a few things up:
I’ve settled things with the RA’s. My RA was never the problem, it was the others in the building. The people who were loud in the office are either insanely quiet now, or they’ve moved to a different spot. Either way, I don’t have to hear them.
The lock is now fixed, it wasn’t broken when I moved in, so they couldn’t have known it was going to break. Old stuff breaks sometimes. It got replaced, so I’m happy with that.
The guy who threatened my dog did so at a school event, he does not live in my building (and may lose campus housing altogether for threatening my dog).</p>
<p>As far as the random dude, I found the head of custodial and talked to him. He says he knows who was assigned to my building, gave me the guy’s name (so I can make a report) and said that the guy will get reprimanded for not giving me the requested information and for going into my room despite the signs. I reported it to security, and I’ll follow up on it later.</p>
<p>I’m partially blind.
I’m prescribed narcotics, which I keep in the lockbox. They are very low dose, and are for emergencies when my migraines are not controllable by the usual triptan class medications. I have them here so I don’t have to go to the ER to get them like I used to at home
And I’m not a guy, I’m a girl</p>
<p>Also, I don’t give a **** if you “buy it”. If you think I’m a liar or whatever, go read someone else’s thread. The people on this board have been very helpful in pointing me in the right direction to sort things out. You can just go somewhere else if you don’t like me.</p>
