My Neighbor

We live in this rent controlled building which means what ever happens with interest rates (cost), unemployment rates (demand) and housing inventories (supply), our rent is not going up or down.

That means that we have people that have been living here for a long, long time. There are only two words to described most of them: demanding and excentric. They love to remind you about things that you would assume being common knowledge but also about their own little querks.

I'm trying to avoid most of the neighbors since they always have some sort of 'friendy' recommendation in store as a paternal advice or just as an icebreaker.

Today when I took the elevator from the first floor to head up it first went down to the bottom floor to pick up some more passenger. I always dread when that happens since I have a strong dislike for spending time alone in an elevator with people that I don't know.

Fortunately, in came the one and only charismatic and very friendly bachelor from the seventh floor. He reminded me of a playboy from Bahrain that I once new in London. Always happy, smiling, polite and open-minded.

My neighbor shared that he had been on a beautiful walk on his day off and asked if I worked from home. No, I've taken one year off, I said with a grin larger than life.

He lit up like a Christmas tree: So what are you doing, he said.

Nothing, I said.

He laughed. Brilliant, he said. I've been thinking of taking some time off for a while now. Getting close to doing it.

Well, I said, it took me about one year to get the courage to do so and it was a brilliant decision. The first few months felt a little anxious but once we headed off from San Francisco to avoid all the urgency, the traffic and the stress everything felt great. I think its important to avoid the working life and working people when you have time off.

My newest friend and neighbor laughed again: Well, thanks for encouraging me to get closer to pulling the trigger, he said.

Man, what a day. Just running into an intelligent person that has seen the light and ready to act. Nothing feels better than to share your experiences and help people to reach their potential.

I need to think about that the next time when I meet the fat lady with all the bags in the elevator. She might need som encouragement as well.