Every night as I lay in bed I can hear the man below me
snoring blissfully. This evening while reading at my desk I could hear the
woman in the unit below me (snoring man’s live-in lady friend) sneeze – twice. Most
mornings I am awoken 10-15 minutes before my alarm goes off by the sound of the
couple’s chubby pug manically running around, abruptly body slamming into
walls, cabinets, doors, and miscellaneous furniture. This same pug cries and
howls whenever his owners are gone for more than a few hours (while, I imagine,
looking out the first-floor living-room window, waiting expectantly for his
owners’ cars to back into their usual parking space).
Which makes me wonder: What must these neighbors know about
me with just our thin ceilings/floors separating us? I live alone and so do not
often have loud conversations save for the occasional phone or thrice weekly conference
call, but I do play podcasts aloud while getting ready every morning, eating every
meal and snack, and cooking or baking. Those who know me well know that I am a morning person, and my floors
creak quite a bit – especially in the kitchen. And when I can’t fall asleep at
night, or wake up inexplicably early and cannot fall back asleep, I often get
out of bed and pass the time by baking or cooking, much to the downstairs
neighbors’ dismay, I am sure, because sometimes I hear them start to move about
and sleepily murmur to one another when I step on an especially creaky – but unavoidable!
– floor tile. I have, however, abstained from vacuuming my floors early in the morning because nobody wants to (or ought to) be that neighbor!
Just a few more months folks, and I’m out of here :)
Charlottesville is stunning in the fall |
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