Life gets some motion
Sometimes life moves from zero to 60 pretty quickly.
With a new job (plus the old one) and now a new apartment, it has been a very busy time lately. But that's no reason that all the tangent readers out there (both of you) should go without some drawn out observations on life.
I've spent an immeasurable amount of time at IKEA lately, where I have found a new love for furniture and interior design and consumerism. It's interesting to me that I don't like the idea of Wal-Mart with it's low, low prices, but I do really enjoy IKEA and it's low prices (especially 50 cent hot dogs). I know that a big part of it is the fact that IKEA's designs are way smarter and I don't get the impression that they are unfair to their employees.
Right now a visiting Swede would find my home to be pretty homey.
I do have a bit of advice for people trying to move while working two jobs... rent a truck and pay someone else to do it. It's been pretty hard coming home late and trying to assemble furniture without disturbing my new neighbors. I haven't met them yet, but I have met the sound of their fists on our shared walls.
One thing I have come to despise in this process and in working in retail a bit, is the experience of shopping. People really change when they are shopping, and it usually has nothing to do with shopping. I think it has to do with being in the same space with other strangers.
I saw a woman accost her child the other day while getting lunch in the mall. I could hear her chastise the kid over the sound of my iPod (which I usually arm myself with to avoid such situations). It seemed like she was yelling louder just so that everyone else could hear how well she was dealing with her vagabond child, as if to say "See, I'm not one of those parents who doesn't parent." I wonder if she would do the same thing at home, away from everyone else.
Living in my new apartment, I have noted how well we shield ourselves from others and protect our space. Since moving in, almost a month ago, I have seen three different people living there (there are approx. 20 units in my building) and only one has bothered to say hello, followed quickly by "would you mind not putting your TV on the wall between our apartments?"
What happened to community? Why can't we know our neighbor? I think I am going to throw a a party for the building, just to see if anyone shows up. My instinct tells me that most of them would like to come, but I am not sure that they would.
:: Not a very focused set of observations, but then again, sometimes they all can't be.
With a new job (plus the old one) and now a new apartment, it has been a very busy time lately. But that's no reason that all the tangent readers out there (both of you) should go without some drawn out observations on life.
I've spent an immeasurable amount of time at IKEA lately, where I have found a new love for furniture and interior design and consumerism. It's interesting to me that I don't like the idea of Wal-Mart with it's low, low prices, but I do really enjoy IKEA and it's low prices (especially 50 cent hot dogs). I know that a big part of it is the fact that IKEA's designs are way smarter and I don't get the impression that they are unfair to their employees.
Right now a visiting Swede would find my home to be pretty homey.
I do have a bit of advice for people trying to move while working two jobs... rent a truck and pay someone else to do it. It's been pretty hard coming home late and trying to assemble furniture without disturbing my new neighbors. I haven't met them yet, but I have met the sound of their fists on our shared walls.
One thing I have come to despise in this process and in working in retail a bit, is the experience of shopping. People really change when they are shopping, and it usually has nothing to do with shopping. I think it has to do with being in the same space with other strangers.
I saw a woman accost her child the other day while getting lunch in the mall. I could hear her chastise the kid over the sound of my iPod (which I usually arm myself with to avoid such situations). It seemed like she was yelling louder just so that everyone else could hear how well she was dealing with her vagabond child, as if to say "See, I'm not one of those parents who doesn't parent." I wonder if she would do the same thing at home, away from everyone else.
Living in my new apartment, I have noted how well we shield ourselves from others and protect our space. Since moving in, almost a month ago, I have seen three different people living there (there are approx. 20 units in my building) and only one has bothered to say hello, followed quickly by "would you mind not putting your TV on the wall between our apartments?"
What happened to community? Why can't we know our neighbor? I think I am going to throw a a party for the building, just to see if anyone shows up. My instinct tells me that most of them would like to come, but I am not sure that they would.
:: Not a very focused set of observations, but then again, sometimes they all can't be.
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
Create a Link
<< Home