Confounding People

 "How are we supposed to eat?"  She was serious, and aftwerwards I felt bad for laughing.  I'd arrived to look at their microwave, which apparently had stopped working.  I determined that there wasn't much I could do and would have to replace it.  "I can't believe this," she said, obviously seriously annoyed.  Husband came back into the kitchen and said "For what we pay you'd think the fucking appliances would work when you need them.  Now what do we do?"

"Are these people serious?" my internal voice said.  "You see those pots and pans and utensils in that cupboard?  And how about that big white metal thing with knobs & buttons and four round things on top that get real hot?"  Again, the internal voice only.  I needed my glamorous maintenance technician job.


Another apartment, another family:

"But how will we wash the dishes?"  She was as straight-faced as the woman in the previous story.  All manner of dinnerware, pots, glasses and utensils filled both wells of the kitchen sink and covered all available countertop space on either side.  They'd gone a few days without the dishwasher, and were acting as if they were starved nearly to death because they had nothing clean to cook in or eat on.  


I'm old-school, try to be frugal, and live minimally.  I don't understand people like this.  Maybe it's the way one is brought up?  Maybe they truly felt entitled to a life of perfection and it didn't take much for said life to be thrown into chaos?  I'm not making fun, I just don't get it.



Comments

  1. How did people live without dishwashers and microwaves????

    Quite easily, it turns out.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Simpler is better, though I will admit, the dishwasher does come in handy, and the microwave is good for quick-thaw or quick-heat. But my life does not depend on them.

      Delete
  2. Do you suppose they really don't know how to cook or hand wash their dishes? Could they be that lacking in adult skills?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You'd be astounded by some of the, umm, idiocy I encountered over the course of about 2 decades of property management.

      Delete
  3. Thanks for stopping by my blog earlier. I wanted to return the favor and loved reading some of your previous posts. This one struck me in particular. I for one, don't like to be without a microwave, but I certainly know how to use those knobs and those burners that get hot.

    When I moved to Wichita, it was the first time I had a house with no dishwasher. However, I find I use less water now than I did when I had one. In fact, I capture all my wash and rinse water to use on my herbs in the garden. In winter, the gray water goes on indoor plants or down the toilet.

    Like you, I don't understand people. If they want a microwave so badly, they should buy one and take it with them when they move to their next residence. I appreciate your sense of minimalism.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for taking the time to check out my posts. Re: knobs & burners- electric stoves are fine, but years ago I learned to cook over a gas flame, and I really miss gas cooking. I totally get wanting everything, especially with the crazy cost you often find with apartment living these days (I grew to absolutely hate the word "amenities"- just give me a small, clean, quiet place to hang my hat at the end of the day...), but come on. The sense of entitlement I encountered drove me crazy.

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  4. Oh my husband came home and told me some crazy stories like this when he was working apartment maintenance. I can believe that there are people out there that actually think like this. sad.

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    Replies
    1. Oh Mary, the endless hours we could spend sharing stories. On the upside, much of what we owned over the years was left behind after move-outs, evictions, etc. I was drawn- and look forward to- your Sunday posts and, though different in location, I can relate 110%.

      Delete
  5. These people are hilarious! Truth being stranger than Fiction, they deserve to go hungry if they're truly that stupid or lazy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I swear, none of this was an exaggeration, Dawn. And it's sad how many times such occurences took place over the years, even at some of the older, umm, lower class properties I'd worked at. They seemed to be the worst.

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  6. We have a dishwasher in our house that we have never used. It came with the house when we bought in 2015. I was just thinking this morning about finally taking it out of the kitchen and replacing it with more cupboard space. We do have a microwave that we use to heat our tea when it has gone cold. I can't imagine how people don't know how to wash dishes or cook on a stove.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My wife and I once lived in an apartment where we did not use the dishwasher, so we removed it and did exactly as you said- turned the space into extra storage.

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