What Can We Learn

Becca and I recently moved into our new apartment in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. It’s a wonderful apartment with beautiful hardwood floors, huge closets, and a spacious kitchen. My excitement was quickly put out as I was woken each passing night by the sounds of moving furniture.

After several nights with no signs of stopping, my exhausted and short-tempered self made his way upstairs to talk to his new neighbors. Much to my dismay, the tennants disregarded much of what I was saying, leaving me feeling more helpless. This continued, and I again tried to speak with them, which ended similarly, but with more anger.

“What can we learn from this?” Becca said. That really resontated with me. The same morning, I wrote a letter apologizing for the disturbance and called the landlord to see what else could be done. I’m now emailing back and forth with my new neighbors (Silly, I know), and my faith in humanity has been briefly restored.

We’re still in the process of trying to solve the problem, but being able to communicate with people regardless of the situation makes me feel more human. What’s more, it reminds me that every obstacle can yield two outcomes -  defeat or realization.