Lessons in Perspective
Aug 13th, 2010 by Kimberly
Not long ago, I was complaining to a friend about the size of my condo. This is not unusual. I don’t always complain, but I do mention the fact that my condo is slightly smaller than your average garden shed on a fairly regular basis. I love the place, really. It’s full of 1920s character with its curved ceilings and crown moldings, and the skylight adds a pleasant modern twist. There is, however, no getting around the fact that despite its many good qualities, it is, in fact, small. Nay, one might even say tiny. I have fit thirteen people and a cat in it, but we all sat very close to one another and stayed on our best behavior (except the cat, who tried her best to pretend that the rest of us weren’t there). In response to my latest rant, my best friend said, “You should watch House Hunters, the international version. Check out the Tokyo episode. You’ll feel much better about your place.”
I looked up the show on Hulu.com and sure enough, there were several episodes, including the one filmed in Tokyo. Kimberly (yes, my BFF and I have the same name, and no, she is not a figment of my imagination) was right on target. Compared to the apartments they were scouting, mine seemed downright spacious, even with the cat. My closet spans an entire wall. My kitchen has a washing machine and a dryer. My bathroom has a tub in which I can almost stretch my legs out, and I’m six feet tall. All these things compare favorably with the junior-efficiency outfittings that adorned the Tokyo digs. It was an excellent lesson in perspective.
…Which was pretty much ruined when I used up the international shows and started watching House Hunters, the domestic version. Good grief. The houses in America – and yes, Canada, I include you in the chastisement – are enormous. This abundance makes it all the more amusing that so many people – almost all of us, really – are so picky about the houses we buy. In every episode, no matter how small the budget, the people involved are looking for something cheaper, that has more square footage, a bigger lot, more amenities, and is in a better neighborhood.
Why do we do this to ourselves, exactly? You probably sense a long rant about Americans (including Canadians) and their enormous sense of entitlement, but for once I think that might be overkill. It’s more a case of current vs. future expectations. Most of our parents started out in smaller houses, but traded up or added on over the years. The houses that are in our minds when we set out to make our first property purchase are the ones that our parents are living in now, not the ones they started with. We have somewhat deluded expectations of being able to move immediately into the house we won’t have earned for another twenty or thirty years.
Fortunately for all, the mind does eventually make this adjustment. After all, if I want to appreciate my condo truly, all I have to do is remember the ten or twelve other places I looked at. Especially the one used by the crack smokers. When I remember the destroyed walls, soiled carpet and pervasive smell of that place, my current little condo seems positively glorious.
Kimberly should probably stop watching House Hunters, but won’t.
Excellent Kim!! So funny!! I do think though, that grown kids expecting to move into their parents’ house equivalent is from their sense of entitlement. “I lived there yesterday, and I should keep on living like that.” You said it exactly: “we won’t have earned” means we feel entitled!
Ahh perspective! Gotta love it!
You know you could get a place twice that big up here right? Just kidding 🙂
This entitlement is what allows mortgage companies and banks to prey on our insecurities.