ex cathedra: Small favors

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Small favors

I am not a wealthy man, to put it mildly. For almost twenty years I have lived in a 750 square foot Edwardian* wood frame "shotgun" apartment up two flights of stairs. It has a very temperamental furnace; in San Francisco, an annoyance but not a danger. And a primitive electrical system. And a bathroom sink where you have to let the hot water tap run for three minutes in the morning before you actually get hot water. And it's drafty.

But last night I was grateful, as I have often been, that the roof does not leak. I am on the top floor of a four-plex and the roof is flat (although I assume it has a small pitch to let water drain off). Nevertheless, while I can clearly hear and enjoy the sound of the rain slamming down on it, it remains (knock on wood) watertight.

How many human beings in history, I wonder, have had that luxury?

*Assuming that the building was put up in the 1920's, in a decade or so, if I am still here, I will be living in a hundred-year old house! (Recently found the building date: 1923).

1 comment:

Leah said...: Small favors indeed, a lot to be grateful for.; 1:06 PM, March 24, 2011

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