Saturday, January 21, 2006

Ajar

My neighbors never lock the door of their apartment. How do I know this, you ask? Do you imagine I'm the type to go peeping around in there when they're not home? I wish. No, the truth is that my building, being rather decrepit, has few working doorknobs. Unless a door is locked, it falls open.

The only time I see my neighbor's door closed is when there is a strip of light beneath it and voices from within. If they're not home, the door is open, ajar. Always ajar about four inches.

Always.

My neighbors are in college, and when they left for a month-long winter break, they left their door open. A run to the mailbox or to the market, maybe, I can understand. But to leave for a month and not lock your door? Do they not care about their possessions? (There appears to be a full stock of furniture in there.) Are they some kind of Commies who feel as though, if someone does steal their things, the robbers must need the stuff more than they do?

They do appear to value privacy because, as I said, they lock the door when they're home. But they seem to want to stake no claim to the apartment when they're not there, like it's a perpetual open-house. What would they think if, when they got home from work or class, there was someone sleeping on the couch?

Maybe they're just against keys.

1 comment:

Maggie said...

In late December, I assumed the apartment was empty and pushed the door open, to which Ben said, "No!"

If I lived across the hall from an ajar door, I don't think I'd be able to resist snooping. I'd pay attention to when they leave and return, and go in to see how they have their dishes in the cabinet, what got grouped together, how they've decorated the apartment that isn't important enough to be locked.

I associate the lack of locking with hippies, not Commies. :)