Rants and Ramblings: random commentary about culture, media, politics, technology and whatnot.

on display

One of the oddest parts of condo-shopping was walking through still-occupied units. On a strictly practical level, it’s difficult to get a good idea of the size and flexibility of a space if someone else’s stuff is already there.

But on another level, it was a strange exercise in voyeurism, touring someone else’s personal sanctuary, debating whether their home is fit to be our new sanctuary. While eyeing appliances and closets, it was impossible not to notice photographs, clothing, personal mementos and the like. It became sort of an anthropological game, trying to piece together the mystery of who the owners were, what they were interested in and how they came to be selling this place — all based on “clues” left behind in the unit.

(Granted, we could — and did — just come out and ask the realtor that question about the units we were seriously interested in. But in the meantime, it was still fun to try to make my own guesses.)

Starting today, the tables have turned. Our apartment leasing office is beginning to show our apartment to prospective tenants, so we’ve rushed to tidy the apartment and make it presentable. Cleanliness aside, it’s going to be weird to have strangers parading through our home, judging what we’ve done with the space. I wonder what kind of “clues” they’ll pick up about us during their short visits, and what the things in our apartment say about us.