I recently moved to San Francisco.
My work set me up with a studio apartment for the first month
.
After a long flight, and an even longer shower,
I was ready to lay my head down, and get some rest.
Just as I finally fell asleep, a huge rumble woke me up...
I knew that San Francisco is known for its earthquakes, but this felt like something else...
just my luck...
Apparently my temp apartment was just above a night club on mission street.
It was clear that I have to start looking for a new place... fast..
Early the next morning, I opened up Craig's list, and started to reply to some ads.
I typed a nice email, telling a little bit about myself...
And waited.
And waited...
Aaaaaaand waaaaaiiiiiiteeeed.....
I didn't get!!! WHY AM I NOT GETTING ANY EMAILS BACK???
Until...
I was SO Excited!! not only I got a reply, They are inviting me to a party!!
what a great opportunity to meet new people from the city.
Little did I know...
I got to an apartment filled with about 30 people...
Everyone was ignoring the fact they are all fighting for the apartment,
and seem to have a great time!
" So I guess you are.. the competition"
"You don't have a chance Missy..."
"Ha.. Ha...Haa.."
It got late, and the owners of the apartment started to get annoyed that people are not leaving.
"why the hell are they not going? don't they have a place to stay??"
It felt like the gusts are playing their own game of SURVIVOR,
where the person who stays last wins the room.
While all the guests were hanging out awkwardly, the house mates had
a better idea how to pass their time.
They Even took pictures of everyone so they can rate them later!!!
In other houses I've seen, people seem really desperate.
Unfortunately, the situation on the street was not much better.
"Guys seriously, for this location, you won't find a better price!!"
One night I went to see an apartment in Haight Ashbury,
a neighborhood that is famous for being the center of the
Hippie movement in the 60s, and keeps that reputation today as well.
no one answered the door. It was a typical cold windy night in SF. but I decided to wait.
"Hi!!! this is Avner speaking!"
"We talked earlier..."
"About seeing the room tonight..."
"wohhhhaaa Duuuuuude!!!! ammmm.... hold on..."
"...ammm... this is kind of a bad time... do you mind coming back tomorrow dude?"
"F#@king Hippies..."
Some apartment were not quite sanitary...
Some just didn't... fit.
Some asked only for a female roommate.
probably wouldn't have worked anyway....
It was almost the end of the month and I had to find a new place. I was getting really desperate!!
And then... Just when I was about to lose hope, my phone rang!
I got a call back!! from an apartment I've seen a week earlier!
I moved in a week later, with this fabulous group of 3 personal trainers,
and 1 police dispatcher, whose hearts are just as big as their muscles!
oh! and there are two Chihuahuas too!
-HAPPY END-
23 comments:
Those shoes look familiar... ;P Glad to hear you're doing well!
Funny story. Sooo true! Glad you found an apartment :]
Love your storyboards!! Super inspiring. I wanna go do that now. Storyboard, that is...I don't think I want to go apartment hunting anytime soon!!
Glad to hear you survived your harrowing experience!
And it's probably really good to live with a police dispatcher!
...or really bad...
Haha, I soooo relate to this. Moving into SF has proven to be harder than moving to any other city that I have been to. Although being a girl, I did had a slight better chance getting responses. I've seen on Craigslist where some guys would rant on it going "GUYS NEEDS ROOM TOOO". So glad you settled in fine at the end!
You shoulda taken the cardboard box......it looked like a really nice place. Free utilities.....water....etc......
hahahahaha!!! these are amazing...
that was awesome, i love happy endings! :P
hahahahaha i love this!!!!
Haha!! I went through the same disaster of a hunt here in NY. Glad you found a place!
Great story Avner!! Is it all really happened?!? You know what.. I don't want to know.. let's leave it like this..:)
Great to hear you've found home at last! :) Patience really helps too because you actually found a place you like to live in. So, every renter out there should also be patient when apartment hunting and never lose hope.
Fantastic story, love the drawings!
Hahaha Awesome!!
Thank you so much for all your kind words guys!! I'm glad those stories reach beyond my personal awkward little moments :) more to come!
Haha awesome story! I lived up in the Bay Area for 4 years and man oh man affordable, decent housing is a difficult find.
Avner, marvelous storytelling and illustration. You really captured the emotion and horror of apartment hunting in San Francisco! I'm so glad you found a place with people you like. :-)
What do you think tipped the scales and got you the spot?
Joel
http://livelovely.com
Haha! Good for you Avner! :)
I love it when you make these story posts, they're always funny and the drawings are great! Glad to hear you found a great place :)
I just went through this last week and you have so perfectly encompassed my experience, it's kind of eerie! Well drawn, well-told, and completely true to life.
Wow!!! A really great artist. I have met a lot of artists when I was in Buenos Aires. I rent apartments buenos aires, and it was such a nice apartment. And the people there, so kind. It was a nice experience. :)
Entertaining, but here's a tip: switch out 'loose' for 'lose'. Grammar +10 = Professionalism +10
An apartment on top of a night club is absolutely not the kind of abode you want to go home to after a long and tiring day. This is why you should carefully consider the neighborhood and environment of a place before you settled in, particularly if you’ll be staying for a long time. But it looks like you found one that is just right. Cheers!
Casandra Roberts @ Gateway Select
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