I think they'd even let me display one of these in my apartment window in Japan. Here, it'd send the estate agent into a state of total apoplexy.
I've been home less than a year and rented for less than 6 months and already gotten guff about what I do around my windows. There are enormous clacking vertical blinds where we are living and while we're hosting a friend's cats for 10 days, I decided to pull the blinds aside and hang up a (plain) sheet for privacy so that the cats jumping onto the window sill at night wouldn't constantly make noise. I put the sheet up at 10:30 pm and took it down at 7:30 am. The first night I did this, the woman in charge of the apartments came rushing over to me in a frantic panic because I hung up what she thought was a curtain. Even after I assured her that it was just a sheet, not a curtain, and a temporary situation because of noise and cats that would vanish in 9 days, she still wasn't necessarily happy, but said that, if I was certain to put it up as late as possible and take it down as early as possible, it would be tolerable until the cats left.
Despite the fact that America is supposedly a culture of individualists with great autonomy to express themselves, there are definitely certain areas of life in which there is much stricter control. I was told even before I moved here about apartments and this window treatment business. I can't imagine what they'd do if I put any sort of decoration in the windows given how insistent they are on the purest of conformity (white blinds and only white blinds). I definitely miss the crap people tended to put in their windows to let their individuality show, as well as not being super controlled about what I could put in mine.
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Interesting! I did live in one apartment in Spokane Washington which was in a historic building so they would not allow window air conditioners during the day. However, it cooled off enough at night most of the time that a good window fan and cross ventilation---oh, the ability to cross ventilate a home. I miss that---was more than enough.
ReplyDeleteI have heard of other more restrictive apartments and even communities. When I tell Japanese about some of the community rules and restrictions, most seem surprised that such a thing goes on in the wild and free USA.
One thing I worry about, is that if I move back to the States, all the forgotten irritations, nosy, pushy landlords, and various officious snobs that would put any Japanese bureaucrat to shame, will come back to haunt me with a vengeance.
I've noticed that Americans treat property as if it were their own little kingdom and they believe renters, despite the fact that they are paying for the privilege of occupying the space, are their own personal serfs. In Japan, I was treated like the space I was forking over money to occupy was much more mine as long as I was paying.
DeleteThis is why I would never buy a house in a neighborhood with a homeowners' association. There are neighborhoods in my city where even something as simple as the color of a windowbox or the style of a gutter must be chosen from a short list of approved colors or styles, and reviewed by a board. It's insanity.
ReplyDeleteI've heard about this sort of control. I also would not buy a home with a homeowner's association. As a renter, alas, I have few options, but to do what I'm told.
DeleteI apologize if I'm asking something that should be obvious but...I don't understand why you can't put up curtains in your apartment. What is the problem with doing that?
ReplyDeleteThe owners of the complex want a certain uniform appearance to the apartment complex and do not allow you to change anything. Every window must have the same white blinds on display. You also aren't allowed to put things outside the window that aren't permitted (like certain types of furniture, planters, etc.).
DeleteWe are renting and have to conform to what they want. Though we rented in Japan, we were never told not to put up certain curtains or even not to put stuff on our balcony or door. Here, you're only allowed an extremely limited range of self-expression when you're a renter (and possibly even a homeowner - I've heard of places which control the colors homes can be, what can be put in front of the place, etc.).
Individualism only exists in certain aspects of American society!