Thursday, March 31, 2011

Luxury in small doses

I consider anything that is not a necessity to be a luxury.  As I do not lead a life of leisure, this means I can do without an awful lot of things, including those which others may consider necessary:  car, regular hot water, bathtub, closets, drawers, light switches, rubber boots, microwave....for several years, I lived without a knife or a hair brush.

This isn't to say that I don't have many possessions, but my miniscule living quarters demand that I do not accumulate too many things, and I like it that way.  And, I've certainly spent enough money over the years replacing things that, suddenly broken or gone, become necessary.  When my fat ass broke the couch, I had to buy a new one; when a flood took out the ceiling light, I had to buy a new one; when the vacuum stopped sucking, I had to buy a new one; when my only baking dish exploded in the oven, I had to buy a new one; when the super broke the toilet seat while repairing the ceiling...you get the idea.

So, I can't remember the last time I bought something that was not meant to replace something else. Imagine my excitement to bring home something that I did not necessarily need, but bought just because I wanted it...

Welcome

Yes, that is a doormat.

Now, I'm not completely crazy - there is a bit of history here.  When I moved into the apartment, there wasn't a doormat, so there was never one that needed replacing.  For several years, there was a lunatic tenant in the building who terrorized the neighbors by either destroying their doormats, or moving them around and leaving creepy notes under them.  Eventually, she succeeded in eliminating all the evil doormats. 

A year or two ago, the lunatic moved on to greener pastures and there was quite a bit of turnover in the building.  The new tenants brought their friendliness and doormats with them and I began to feel like the odd one out - the old ogre of the building without a welcoming greeting at my door. 

When I placed my new purchase out in the hall, I was hesitant to shut the door.  I don't think I've ever left any possession outside, unattended and vulnerable.  Throughout the evening, I kept cracking open the door to look at it...  

Still there?   

Woot

Yep.

Now I can relax, kick my feet up on the new couch, look up at the new ceiling light as meatballs heat up in the new baking pan and feel I'm living in the lap of luxury.  

4 comments:

  1. that is super-duper cute. (i have a thing for owls.) sometimes the little luxuries make life worth living.

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  2. Thanks, Marjorie

    This has got me thinking about more luxuries...I just heard that one of the big lotto winners is going to buy a dishwasher. I've not had one one those since I lived with my parents! If I won lotto, I think I'd buy a washer and dryer. That, to me, would be heaven.

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  3. I love your owl!

    I've had my doormat since 1988 when I bought it from a blind organization for the ungodly sum of $10 which was so much money then I don't know what got into me. One day a few years ago it went missing and I was distraught. I bought a new one, not from the blind, but from Target. Then, somehow, very soon after, I got another one, very similar to the 2nd and I can't remember how it came into my life but I put it in front of my neighbor's door. Then the 1st one reappeared--a musician who sometimes come around from Berlin was using it to sleep on in the hallway near the roof. I put it in front of my other neighbor's door. The 4th neighbor got a new girlfriend who redecorated like they are living in New Jersey and she got one too.

    Sometimes the super cleans the floor, rarely, maybe annually, and he moves the mats around randomly so we each get to experience a new one on a rotating basis.

    I've never in my life lived in a place with either a dishwasher or a washer/dryer. They both sound like heaven.

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