Hello! Now Please Don't Contact Me

I am in the business of providing a quality home for quality people. There is a contract and an exchange of money. I am fair. I am honest. And sometimes I am even a pushover. I am proud of what I do. I provide a service. I give people a place to live.

Right now, I like all my tenants. Even the ones who owe me money. I haven't always been able to say that.

Through experience, or more likely just through maturity, I have managed to separate me-the-human from me-the-business-owner. I can be friendly and know that there are times my tenants are being friendly because they may want a favor down the road. Sometimes tenants are this way. Sometimes they are just downright nice folks who just want to share.

I don't seek these people out. I don't e-mail them and ask how things are going in their personal life. In fact, I don't tend to e-mail or call my tenants at all. I like a certain degree of anonymity. I like the distance. It is nice to hear about the events in their life, but I am not a part of those events. I am just a spectator who only gets a snippet when they share.

When my tenant found me through Twitter, I realized how socially vulnerable I really am. It never occurred to me someone renting from me would seek me out. I don't think it was done as anything other than a well-intentioned friendly overture.

That said, I recently got a Facebook request from one of my tenants. I am absolutely positive this was just a kind gesture. She is a sweet person and under different circumstances, I would have said yes. But, there is a certain level of professionalism that must be maintained here. I thought that was pretty obvious. How many of us Facebook friend our boss or our banker?

One of my long-term tenants, who never contacts me, and I have never personally met, also e-mailed me today. Her mother died. Days later, her brother died. She told me she thinks of me as a friend and just wanted to share. I am flattered she thinks this highly of me. I am saddened by her loss and told her. But, I wouldn't go so far as to call her a friend. If she wasn't renting from me, I would hope she would be. She is a facinating person.

It isn't that I don't befriend the people who have rented from me. I can think off-hand of five former tenants I stay in touch with (two of whom are on my Facebook list). It doesn't seem appropriate to be pals until the business relationship is through. Maybe it is just me, but I wouldn't consider looking for Legal Eagle or Jack on Facebook.

So, in the event you are reading this and you are a tenant, please understand we are not friends. It isn't personal.