Mickey Z

Cool Observer

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Friday, October 27, 2006

You couldn't even fit a skeleton in these closets

Since Michele and I moved into our new apartment some seven months ago, it has been a quality of life improvement in so many ways. One downside, however, is closet space. This moderately sized one-bedroom apartment has only two tiny closets. How should we explain this “oversight”? (Keep in mind that the building is 78 years old.)

a) The architects were idiots
b) The architects callously cut corners
c) Americans had far less “stuff” in 1928
d) All of the above

Accepting as a given that all of us humans are idiots and we all callously cut corners, the “can’t-miss” answer is, of course, D. However, in this particular case, I feel strongly that C is far more accurate.

In fact, I’ll bet the original tenants here considered themselves damn lucky to even have two closets.

Obvious lesson #4,411: If you don’t accumulate “stuff” not only are you reducing the depth of the footprint you leave on the planet, you also just don’t need as much goddamned closet space.

(How big is your closet?)

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Action Alert:

My friend Basia (BAH-shuh) is a teacher at St. John’s Prep High School in Astoria (I went there—a million years ago—when it was known as “Mater Christi"). Anyway, Basia and several other teachers will be going to Mississippi on spring break to help build low-income housing for people who were displaced due to Hurricane Katrina. To help finance the trip, you can make a tax deductible donation here (allocate funds to “St. John’s Prep").