The value of a dollar

In the end, it's all about expectations. What I was willing to put up with 10 years ago is worlds apart from what I find acceptable now. It's amazing what a few more zeroes on a paycheck will do for your sense of entitlement.

This has all come about as we get settled into our new apartment and there is a laundry list of problems that need to be taken care of. Some are small, like shelving that looks like crap and contains only one actual shelf per closet and others are more substantial like intermittent electricity in the bedroom that seems to come from the outlet shorting itself out on the box.

Yaaaaay, a fire hazard three feet from where I sleep!

In my college house or first apartment, those are things that you suck up and deal with - by running an extension cord like we're doing now - but I'm finding myself really, really unwilling to do that this time.

It has me wondering if the tenants downstairs - who are in their early 20s - are also causing a stir, as I assume they have the same sorts of problems. It boils down to a question of if I expect more because of age or experience - basically, I know how much a mortgage costs, I know how much I pay for rent and there's a certain level of safety and convenience that should be met by the landlord from that overlap in finances.

I just wonder why it seems that folks in their early 20s let more things slide with a shrug and the acceptance that things can be pretty junky when you're renting a place. Secretly, I think that I stay in more and have nothing better to do that be grumpy about having to run down to the breaker, but I'm not ready to cop to that yet.

It's a very real possibility that all of the time I used to spend being cool, going to see bands and being busy with other things has now been supplanted with being cranky and demanding what I'm entitled to for my monthly rent.

Obviously that bar has been raised.

For instance, I got into a major fight with my college landlord when I refused to pay up for the craphole he rented to us because after the main kitchen light literally blew apart and rained sparks for a few minutes on New Year's Eve.

When it still wasn't fixed in June, words were exchanged regarding the final month's payment. I'd probably be calling the fire and building inspectors within three weeks if the same thing happened today.

Of course, that would be after I called their home line every time the power went out and I'd already paid at least one month in quarters. Like I said, I have more time on my hands, what with not having a social life these days.

(Image from: Old-Picture.com)