Open Door

I am still laughing. OMG this cracked me up in such a way you would have thought it was a comedy. But nope, it's real. This sounds and looks more like living in NYC on a budget than what we usually see in movies and TV (I'm looking at you, Sex and the City). I once dated a New Yorker and he told me he lived in a one bedroom with a roommate (!!) and that his rent was astronomical. And he had a good job! Yianni Sine's tongue-firmly-in-cheek tour of his living quarters looks to me like what I'd expect a student or somebody with an average job to have in NYC.  For real. His kitchen tour had me howling with that 'and I made some bread'. Pandemic gold. I give him points because his bathtub is NOT in the kitchen, though. I have seen those. 

I feel his struggle about having chosen the smallest room because his roomies have partners. I have seen that, too. Can you imagine the logistics of having sex in an apartment that small? With two roommates? I'm loud, so I cannot have roommates roaming around while a gentleman caller helps me with my tingle to mingle.  On the same vein, his bed would not work with me. Nope. You'll see why. Underbed space be damned. And his living room! OMG flashbacks to when I lived off-campus and I would visit the TAs in their apartments. Absolutely same. And that coffee table? I laughed so hard I spilled some orange juice I was drinking. And wait until he takes you to the roof.

 But what I really loved was this take on the Architectural Digest videos I watch all the time. Because I do watch those. Because I sometimes live vicariously through the fantastic spaces the rich and beautiful have. Especially now, where so many people basically make a living on IG or YouTube by offering tricks, hauls and makeovers by the dozen to make your living space prettier. It's funny how we have been talking about influencers and I came across this video. 

I loved this call to sanity. I know Yanni did it for the laughs, after all, he's an expat commenting on life in the US. But also, it is a lesson on humility. He's young and will probably move out of that apartment in a year or two, when COVID lets us go back to our lives, but this is the struggle many people find themselves in throughout a big part of their lives. Many of us live in spaces that are much, much better than Yanni's. Many of us are thinking about buying a house or have already bought one. Many of us have left behind the low-key über-BoHo style of our college years. But many, many people live their lives the way Yanni is living his now.

That's why I am rolling my eyes when people talk shit about the stimulus check the Biden administration is planning. Bob was right in his observation of the blatant hypocrisy and lack of humanity of those who oppose it. COVID-19 will have a long-lasting effect on homelessness in the US and we should be aware of that. Because we are fortunate enough to have a job that gives us money and a house that we can organize and make pretty at our will, it does not mean we should forget that there's people out there that are really having a hard time right now.

XOXO

P.S. Wanna help? AWESOME! There are many ways to do that.