In case you missed the first entry in this mini series, it’s best you catch up by reading here.
Now that we’re all caught up, it’s time to bring the first chapter of my LA Journey to its conclusion. As time went on, I quickly realized that the Landlord seemed to constantly contradict their own statements on a whim. One day it was “Anything you need just ask” and the next day it was “I’m a very busy individual, please don’t bother me unless it’s an emergency.”
It’s something that got tiring very quickly. It was to the point that I no longer cared for the “bond” between Landlord and Tenant. Let me just pay my rent and we can keep things strictly on a Hi and Goodbye basis..But Nah that wasn’t possible, simply because of:
The Questions
I can handle the initial questions. “How was your day?” “How’s the Acting coming along?” Things like that.. Questions like “Do your parents help you pay rent?” Or “How much was them starting to get a little too personal, especially when those things are none of your business.
Things went beyond just “making polite conversation.” The Landlord was just being ridiculously nosy, which further damaged our already strained relationship. It got to the point that I just stopped talking to them Of course until the next inevitable question came..
Being “Home”
Now this was one thing that I couldn’t seem to comprehend or get over. The landlord eventually had a problem with me being home during the day. Yes, you read that right, they had a problem with me being in the place that I paid to live in.
According to them, I needed to be out networking and meeting people and making connections, which is all true and important, but is also near impossible when you don’t even know the area you’re in, or the places that you can go to make such connections.
I’m not one who’s lacking in motivation either, but you’re not going to tell me when and what times I should be home. Especially when I’m relaxing after a long week at work like:
But yet you’re looking at me like:
Needless to say, it became another “issue” because I was home more than anyone else. Which, again, was mostly because I had very little understanding of my surroundings at the time.
The “Parental” Aspect
There was so much Micromanaging going on, that it started to become ridiculous.
It was like paying to have a parent, but not the sweet, loving kind that might sometimes cook you meals.. but the overbearing kind, that gets involved in your business uninvited and just generally stresses you out, despite you being a grown adult… who pays to live there.
The Cooking
Remember when I said that when I first moved in that I had unrestricted access to the kitchen? That all changed as time went on.
Initially, the few times that I did cook, the Landlord seemed to find every excuse to be downstairs until I was done. I was starting to feel like they were over my shoulder… Literally.
One day I came home with a Frozen Pizza that I’d gotten from my job, and had all intentions of using the oven we had (Free use of the kitchen remember?) until I was told that I Couldn’t use the oven because it used too much electricity and made the house too hot.
So let me understand this… I can’t use the A/C… that I pay for. The Wi-Fi is trash…. That I pay for. and Now I can’t use the Oven.. that I also pay for…. Got It. It was shortly after that conversation that I began to pursue other living options more seriously.
The Iron
In the last 30 days of my Time in Sunland, I was subjected to one last pointless conversation… this time about me ironing my clothes.
According to my Landlord, Nobody in LA irons. That’s right NOBODY. The only people who iron are the ones with “Too Much Time On their hands” Nevermind that you just might want some freshly pressed clothing every once in a while.
The driving theme behind this whole conversation was about how my ironing was single-handedly driving up the cost of utilities, and that I “wasn’t allowed to iron anymore”…To which the very next day I bust out my ironing board like:
“Oh the Utilities that I help pay for?…. Uh Huh Ok.”
Although it wouldn’t take much by comparison, ultimately I’m in a far better place and I’m glad that I can finally put this entire situation behind me. This is just one of the many tales on my journey to success and I’m glad I could share it with you all.
