Our house, in the middle of our street…our house… Isn't that the way that song goes?

There is something about home ownership that is exciting and warming yet can be aggravating and perplexing all at the same time. When you own your own home, you belong to an elite group of people who share in the joys and misfortunes of dealing with such an investment. But, it isn't just an investment; it is your sanctuary, your fortress, and your cave! It is the one place on the face of the planet where it is "all you", when it comes to design, decoration and personal expression.

I don't know about you, but for me, my house has always been a place where I can retreat from the mental and physical tortures of daily life. You may be out all day doing errands or killing yourself at the office, but you can almost always count on getting home, pulling the boots off your pounding dogs and head for that comfy chair in front of the television. Our ability to do this without being hounded by others is what makes our house a home. If you really have "had it" for the day, you can unplug the phone, lock the door, and sit down without any disturbance. If someone comes to the door, you can simply not answer it. This is your prerogative as a homeowner.

I am writing all this because it really makes me wonder why, when I see people who own their own homes, they take no steps whatsoever to make it theirs. They make no attempts to turn the house that they have purchased, with hard earned cash, into a home that they can be proud of. I truly understand that some people may not have the financial freedom to make major renovations to better their personal living area. The people that I speak of are not just not spending a dime on their homes, they are letting them fall apart. In fact, these people are furthering the demise of a potentially nice home by living in it and by slowly destroying it. If they didn't live in the home, the home would ultimately deteriorate, but it would do it at a much slower speed.

I have seen even further abuse from homeowners. Mind you, I am not talking of renters now, I am speaking of people that have made a promise to the bank to make mortgage payments every month, in hopes of eventually owning a certain parcel of land along with its structure. These people are reckless savages, in my opinion. They never pick up a hammer or nail to fix anything. They never spend one red cent to better their home.

Now comes the scary part…
They don't clean. They don't even tidy up…EVER!! They dump their refuse wherever they see fit. This type of human being is the type of person who has never made a bed in their lives. They don't know what a feather duster is, and couldn't find a vacuum in a department store if it where the only thing that the store sold! It boggles my mind when I see such reckless abandon. It is as if they think that if they mess this house up too much, they will just merely seek out another house to destroy.

Look, I know that I come from a long line of "Anal Retentive Clean Freaks"." I admit this freely. My Grandmother was the only person that I knew that would take out the light bulbs from their respective sockets twice a year and wash them.

But I have seen some people (first hand) that would make Pigpen from the peanuts cartoon cringe and run for the nearest basin of soapy water. I have seen holes in the sides of a houses the size of a Great Danes. I have seen dog poop layered between carpets. I have seen litters of kittens delivered on the floor in a child’s room and the afterbirth was never cleaned up and hand prints in jelly on a window that has been there for more than ten years! I have seen some pretty bad things in my life, but seeing people live in filth and sloth is something that I don't think I will ever get used to.