an exchange with a neighbour

[kareina]

Yesterday morning, when I went to leave the house I found the following note taped to the outside of my door:

"Excuse me... Do you mind *NOT* to open all the windows down the stairs...?! It's winter... and it's *VERY COLD*... thanks..."

Since I was in a hurry I left my reply till I got home in the evening, when I added a piece of paper containing the following:

"It would make me very happy if it were possible to leave the windows closed. However smoke causes me such pain that it is necessary to open the windows to let out the bad air. Note: I am not the only person who is opening the windows, I often find them already open when the hall is smoky."

This morning my note was gone, but the original one still remained (so I brought it along to share with all of you). It will be interesting to see if there is any reply. I'm told that it is actually illegal in this country to smoke indoors at all, but that doesn't seem to stop some of the people who live in this apartment building. I considered letting the writer know that I disagree with the use of the word "very" to modify the word "cold"--while there were snowflakes (yay!!!) falling from the sky last night (it was so nice to stroll in it and feel the flakes hit my upturned face as I walked), it isn't cold enough for the snow to stick--they all melted as soon as they touched the ground. A lucky few snowflakes held on for a tiny bit when they landed upon the tops of cold cars, but there was no evidence this morning that any of yesterday's precipitation was ever frozen. However, it occurred to me that the writer doesn't really care whether or not I think it is cold, they are only concerned with themselves, so I didn't bother to include that information. Though why it would matter is beyond me--surely if they are leaving the apartment and heading outside they are wearing the same sort of heavy coat, hat, scarf, gloves, etc. that all of the other locals seem to feel are necessary, in which case it is good that the hallway isn't hot...

Comments

[the-cheese-lady.livejournal.com]

Just to give you a different angle to think on; I know that I feel the cold much more than most people, thanks to my medications. Also, people who are more aged or who have arthritis are much more susceptible to colder temps. It's possible that their door off of the internal stairway is not an exterior door with all the weather-stripping and insulation a typical exterior door would have. This would cause them to adjust their thermostat, something they may not have the funds to do.

Just a few thoughts. :)

[kareina.livejournal.com]

Oh, how I wish I knew how to adjust the thermostat in my apartment! I have the knob turned to the lowest setting, but it is still too darn hot in the apartment. I think that is in part due to it being an old apartment building, and the heat being on in all of the other units causes this one to be warm too, but sometimes it is because our wall heater is on. I so wish I could turn it off. I don't like having to open my balcony door to cool the room down, as that just makes the heater work harder (though sure feels good in the short term).

I have no doubt that they feel the cold more than I do (and it is way colder than I'd want to be curled up with a book it--the outdoor temps are only suited to physical activity these days). However, unless they stop smoking in the hallway, I'm not going to stop opening the windows to let the smoke out. Somehow I suspect that whomever else is opening the window feels the same way. Unless they have some other reason for opening it, of course...

[eurika.livejournal.com]

I agree with you.

[mamapduck.livejournal.com]

I once tried to explain to a neighbor that while I was sorry he could not stop his toddler from wandering out a door to our shared hallway if left open, I felt it necessary to leave it open to air out the smell from the fact that he and his wife left garbage, including diapers with human feces, in the hallway rather than taking it immediately to the dumpster.

If you store poo in shared areas, people will air them out, yo?