The Apartment Song

I used to live in a two-room apartment
Neighbors knockin' on my wall
Times are hard; I don't wanna knock it
I don't miss it much at all . . .
--Tom Petty

I came home from work today to find a notice from the landlord, saying my playing music at night is disturbing the neighbors. Lovely.

Before you assume that I've been rockin' and rollin' into the wee hours of the night, it might be helpful for you to know that I'm the kind of person who tiptoes lightly across the ceramic tile in my kitchen so I don't disturb the neighbors below with my steps--I take off my high heels as soon as I come home to avoid making that penetrating clack-clack noise. I gingerly pick up the dining room chairs to pull them out so they don't scrape across the floor. I'm the one who whispers going up the stairs outside. The one who has lived without her piano for two years because she knows it would be too loud for her neighbors. Do you see something wrong with this picture?

Ah well. I should have known this was coming. We have a new tenant in the building, and don't ask me how I knew this, but I figured her for someone who, like me, had never lived in an apartment before. You see, when I first moved in, the noise level was overwhelming. I knew what TV programs people were watching; I could tell when the couple next door was fighting (and when they made up). I just figured that was part of apartment life. When I mentioned my noise-adjustment issue to my coworker who lives with her young son in an apartment, she said that apartment noise was comforting to her. That it felt good to know there were people around her in case she needed something. Ever since then, I've been okay with intrusive sounds. Isn't it great when a new perspective can make a difference in your attitude?

Anyway, I'm sitting here without music, humming along in my head with an imaginary Tom Petty. I've loved "The Apartment Song" from the first moment I heard it, but never so much as now. I can't wait till I don't miss living here.

Don't you just hate it when you have a whiny neighbor? Oh. Wait. I guess that's what I am. Oopsie.

Oh yeah, I'm alright
I just feel a little lonely tonight
I'm okay, most of the time
I just feel a little lonely tonight . . .