Sadly, the spring term ends next week, so there will be few reasons for me to dress nicely until the tail end of August once we are ensconced somewhere in the East Lansing, Michigan area. The season of (mostly) chino shorts, madras or knit shortsleeve polo shirts (rugby shirts on cooler days), and either leather dock-siders, or penny loafers is almost here.
And what of our trip to Michigan? Sigh. Despite out three-day visit last week, we have yet to find an acceptable dwelling, either rental or to purchase, so we need to make yet another trip next week, once my classes end, to nail that down. We were shown a bunch of dumps that you would want not live it plus a few extremely expensive (and unattractive) McMansions as well as two houses that were acceptable. However. . . The current owners of the latter two had some very strange and convoluted rental expectations/agreements on the one hand and just weird sale arrangements on the other that raised several red flags, so we decided to steer clear of both in the end. It was a frustrating few days, and we came home empty handed. Grrrrr. . .
I'll finish by making one of those controversial value judgements that annoy so many people and make plenty of others uncomfortable. You know. Because we're all supposed to pretend like we don't see what's staring us in the face. Well, I don't go through life with my eyes closed, and rest assured if something is amiss, you can bet I'll mention it.
The point is, we were shown two reasonably nice houses on the outside -- one was extremely nice -- last week by our real estate agent. However, inside was another matter. To cut to the chase, the amount of mess, clutter, and animal waste some people are apparently content to exist in the midst of within the four walls of their homes is absolutely effing amazing. How the agent with whom we were working could even entertain the thought that we might be interested in seeing places in this state is beyond me.
Keep in mind, the people living currently in both places are fully aware that their homes are on the market -- they are the ones selling or vacating them after all -- and they were notified well in advance that strangers would visit and take a closer look. You know, when you can't even be bothered to pick up your damn clothing and/or other belongings off the floor where they were dropped, clear away, wash, and stow used cups and plates, or make sure things are reasonably straight, and/or non-smelly, it really does not leave a nice impression in your wake.
What's more, these were single family homes we were looking at, not multi-student digs in crumbling old buildings across the street from the Michigan State University campus. We did all of our looking in an extremely nice suburban area just east and northeast of East Lansing, mind you, where the houses and rentals ain't exactly cheap, and the schools are some of the very best in the country. You'd think people would take a little more pride in their investments and keep things in better day-to-day condition for themselves at the very least. Clearly, it gets back to that issue of self-respect. Like so much else, you either have it, or you don't, and no amount of blather and badgering from grandmas like yours truly can change things.
Oh, yes. I know. Don't judge a book by its cover. Blah, blah. Blah, blah. Blah, blah. Everyone is too busy in 2015 to keep the house picked up anyway, right? Um, sorry. You're going to have to make a stronger argument than that though. I'm not buying it. If you put things away where they belong when you have finished with them and do not leave a trail behind you, if you run the vacuum cleaner around the rugs/carpeting once a week, and keep the sink in the kitchen free of unwashed cups, glasses, dishes, and flatware, then cleaning the house is not that big a deal and need not take hours. I worked that out quickly when I rented my very first apartment at 21.
And you're darn right. I absolutely feel superior to those who live their lives in a chaotic, stinking mess. My family raised me better than that. End of story.
-- Heinz-Ulrich
I hope your students at MSU don't dress exactly like the Baltimore rioters.
ReplyDeleteYou and me both!
ReplyDeleteBest Regards,
Heinz-Ulrich von B.
My brother has spent his life buying and renovating properties. He consistently searches out the most appalling properties and buys them for a discount. See these pig sties as an opportunity. Hold your nose and just accept that you are going to rip out everything and start from ground zero. Look beyond the clutter and filth. Just knock a percentage off the purchase price and hit them where it hurts - their pockets. The final satisfaction will be yours.
ReplyDeleteRegards,
Guy