It’s Just You?.

“It’s Just You?

This is the question I get from everyone who comes over to my house. The house I rent. I absolutely love the house I live in – Its a gorgeous, 1800 sq ft, 3bdr-1bath Craftsman home in the Barrio. I am, for all intensive purposes, the whitest person you will meet. Not only do I have zero color, I do NOT speak Spanish (as hard as I might try, its no good… someday I will share a couple of stories on my attempts….). I am not the norm in the neighborhood, I already ‘stick out’ if you will. So, its not odd that I get a question or two about where I live, how I live, etc, its the reaction I recieved this evening that I found particularly interesting.

So, this evening was a girls get-together. I’m lucky that I have such great girlfriends in my life, and we meet on a fairly regular basis, about once every 3 months. There are always 6-8 of us, and of course, we all love to catch up with the “goings-on” in each others’ lives. Honestly, I’m so lucky to know ladies like these…

Anyway, I get home this evening and a car is blocking my driveway. Not in a 6 -12 inches past the curb, but literally, a car (White older model Toyota Celica) in the full length of my driveway. Tonight was the night I lost it, pushed to the end, where my patience with humanity ended (for the time being). I called the police to have the car towed (which I don’t like to do – IMO public servants are here for emergency purposes, not for domestice disturbances/disputes). Now, since I live in the barrio, I often let it ride… let it slide… don’t make a big deal about it because I do not want to be ‘tagged’, wake up with grafiti on my fence, or worse yet, be tagged for a criminal act (rape, burglury, etc.).

SIDENOTE: Zoey just came in with weeds, slugs, and grass all over her. She has obviously had a good time rolling about the yard this evening.

SIDENOTE 2: Tow-truck is here. I can see the flashing lights and hear the engine working to back up to get a good position… oohhh, I can hear the tow truck guy talking to the cop, they are friends… yeah for me, someone is looking out for me. Two strangers, yes, but better than nobody!

Back to the point of this story. I call the police because I’ve reached the breaking point -I cannot pull into my driveway.. and I pay a lot of money to live in the house IN the Barrio. Cop shows up almost immediately… and asks me, no less than 3 times… “Its just you? Just you? Are you sure its just you?”.. I say yes, I rent the house, no family in the basement… yes, my driveway… yes, i called.. no, there is no family members in the basement..”.. on and on. I bring this up because he has got to be the 100th person to ask me, “It’s just you?”… My first response for quite some time was, “well, me and the cats”, but that didn’t work well. Answering with a simple “Yes” is the best choice… .

Why is it so strange that a single woman with two cats live in a house (vs. a condo) by herself? Yes, the house has more space than I need, but its not like I had much choice. I would love to rent a 2bdr, 1ba home… they just are few and far between. And I’m glad I have a 3bdr – I have an office (which I use as paper storage mostly) and a guest room for all the friends and family that come and stay with me. I love when people visit me, so I do love having the space for them to feel comfortable, spread out in.

Now that I’m reading my own post, I realize that I’ve not really made a point here (and the tow truck is still outside so I think I’m really just trying to look busy). I guess if I have to make a point, my point is, Single people have rights too, and sometimes those rights include living in a house that may appear like a lot of space, but that is o.k.. It is just me. And the cats. And we deserve to live fabulously.