Little White Lies

It turns out 3rd apartment is vacant once again. So potential tenants come for a look see. As much as possible I keep to myself. I don't loiter in the common area. Sometimes, you'd barely know I was present. I keep a low profile. I keep myself busy with online activities.

But the other day, I rushed out to get the towels as it suddenly started to rain. I ran smack into a couple who were there for the viewing. Well not literally, but figuratively. Usually it is the maid of the owner who accompanies the potential tenants. After she left, I was cornered by the couple who posed some questions. The usual concerns about safety, flooding tendency and the neighborhood.

I didn't tell them that we had one incidence of burglary. That the street floods when it pours but it subsides easily once the rains stop. Unless, it is an "Ondoy" type downpour then it enters the apartment premises but only ankle deep. Or sure you can park your car inside the common area but I'd be glad if you don't because it invades our personal space. And hey I'm quite territorial so I get all claustrophobic when apartment 2 neighbors park their car near our front door. That we keep the gate locked at all times to prevent the usual peddlers as well as Jehovah Witnesses and other evangelical groups from knocking on our doors trying to convert us into their sects. That tricycles rev on by with the volume of their stereos at full blast thus causing the car alarm of car parked inside premises to disturb the so called peace and quiet of this residential neighborhood.

So sure I lied by saying that it was a safe, flood free neighborhood. I felt it wasn't my place to convey a negative image. In due time, they will just have to find out the way we did and hopefully they don't silent curse me for not warning them about the 'perils'. After all, I believe these challenges are all part and parcel of what makes life in the metropolis quite an absorbingly intriguing experience.