October 6, 2008
"I live in a single room above a bowling alley and below another bowling alley."
Posted by pete at October 6, 2008 12:32 AM
I mentioned that, post-Ike, the family is living in an apartment while repairs are being performed on the house. What I failed to mention is what a swinging joint this particular complex is. For while we've seen a few younger couples with kids, the overwhelming majority of tenants appear to be single folk in their mid to late 20s.
This is especially amusing at the pool, where the breakdown tends to be me, She Who Shall Not Be Named, and a dozen or so preening fuckwits with boring tattoos (tribal arm crap, flames-on-the-calf, and Chinese characters that undoubtedly stand for "Occidental skank"). They don't stoop to actually enter the pool, of course, so I just tell SWSNBN to keep her head down and hope she isn't at a stage where she'll be impressed by a butterfly surrounded by stars etched on the small of a woman's back.
But there are some benefits. We're closer to downtown and to SWSNBN's school, there's a hike-and-bike trail nearby, and we only actually share one wall with strangers. It's a bit of a departure from my college/grad school days of aprtment living, in that every room actually has furniture in it, and there's actually food in the refrigerator.
Then an incident last week took me all the way back to 1988.
I usually leave for work before 6 AM. It's a scheduling necessity, and the 15-minute commute more or less makes up for having to go to bed before midnight most nights. I've also noticed few people in the complex stirring at that hour, except for Thursday morning. I was driving out of the gate when I saw two young ladies who live a few units down returning - on foot - from some unknown assignation. They were still decked out in their evening togs, though hair and makeup looked rather worse for wear, and they were carrying their high heels (the better to navigate the treacherous parking lot).
They seemed mildly surprised that someone was leaving, but smiled briefly as I gave them a big shit-eating grin and a wave. Which got me wondering, is it really a walk of shame if you're not, you know, ashamed?
Apartment complex pool frequented by strippers? Did your toe melt off when you tried to check the temperature? Was there a thin (or maybe thick) film of glitter on the surface? Did it smell like cheap perfume more than it did chlorine?
I was young— I needed the money…
Jebus.
I wonder if it’s the place where I lived back in the 1970’s. It’s called Bayou Bend nowadays (I think) or some such, and it’s on Memorial Drive just east of Shepherd. Once upon a time it was Parkgate, and it wasn’t bad. Of course, I was in my 20’s then. Sans tattoos.
I once had a friend who once lived in an apartment complex directly across from a strip club. Apparently many of the “dancers” in the club lived in the complex, and when the club closed they liked to come home and swim in the pool. I’m led to believe that this friend of mine considered this a significant perk of living in this particular complex.
I would also like to go on record with the statement that although at one time I lived very close to a strip club, in an apartment complex with a pool, I am emphatically *not* the friend in this story.