apartment at its worst

[abka]

My mother, aunt, and friend are staying in our apartment for a few days and it seems that while they're there the apartment is not going to behave. When the first arrived the water was completely shut off. I told them to check the elevator to see if there was a notice that there was work being done in the building (there was.) The water came back on, but they couldn't get the toilet to work. Then they opened the curtains and the rods fell down. Then they couldn't figure out how to turn up the air conditioning and the kitchen fan didn't work. (There was also rotting food on the kitchen shelf that Denis forgot to put away before he left Sunday and an empty pizza box in the fridge that they disapproved of, but that's pretty minor.) We have had a crack in the bathroom ceiling above the toilet for a while (we told our landlady earlier this winter about it, but it wasn't a problem.) Between Sunday and Wednesday the crack expanded and when my family arrived the bathroom was covered with insulation. Then this morning the airconditioning unit began making a high-pitched noise. We had no idea what that was so they asked at the desk and there's some condensation on some box in the unit. They took it apart and found the box but it was dry so it must be some wiring problem. I'm so embarassed that they've had all these problems and it's driving me crazy that I can't be home to check them out myself. We'll see how Friday night goes.

Comments

[coffman.livejournal.com]

I'm so embarassed that they've had all these problems and it's driving me crazy that I can't be home to check them out myself.

I sympathize with the embarrassment-even-though-it's-not-your-fault. I'm currently playing host to my parents, though in different circumstances (visiting me in the country I now live versus using your apartment when you're not there) and I'm experiencing similar embarrassment for things outside of my control. I want their visit to be a pleasant one and for them to leave with a good impression of England, so when things go wrong (huge train & tube delays, terrible weather, surprise festival with music playing until midnight in the park that's right outside their hotel window) I feel responsible even though there's nothing I can do about them. V. Frustrating. I'm guessing that both of us would like our respective parents to believe us when we say that we live in nice places, so it's frustrating when things go awry while they're visiting and make it less likely that they'll believe you. At least in my case, I'm sure it stems from some underlying desire to let them know that I'm independent and doing well for myself and they don't have to worry or obsess over me.

Okay, so maybe I'm really overanalyzing this. =) Let's just leave it at, "sorry there are all these issues at your apartment and you can't be there to fix them!"