Co

B and I applied to live in a housing co-op about three weeks ago. The whole thing was a bit like applying for a job, only we the applicant were two people instead of one person. It was strange but not.

We got a call for an interview shortly after we dropped the application in the mail box. We expected there to be two or three people asking the questions, but instead it was the whole co-op. It wasn't a big deal and the person who did most of the talking said right off the bat that it was awkward for everyone involved, not just us, but that there was no way around it so we all should try to be as relaxed as possible. We sat in a circle (on chairs! It wasn't that bad!), drank juice and answered some questions, similar to the ones asked in the statement of interest we'd written along with the application, about why we wanted to live like that, what contributions we could make to the place, what we foresaw as problems...

All was going quite well. I was nervous and tomato-faced as I always am in a group of more than about three, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. B was a good mix of even and enthusiastic. After a while, I got the sense that they really liked us. That is, until we let the cats out of the bag (I apologise for not being able to resist that one). This was a pet-free co-op, but as always, we were unsure of just how rigid that rule was so we had decided to wait until they got to know us a little bit before blurting it out. When we did come out with it, the reaction was the kind they'd have given had they all eaten a lemon.

Not a very bendable rule, apparently. I joked about The End of the Interview Effective Immediately, but they explained that this was an issue that had been up for discussion before and that they'd talk it over again, and we carried on. They have this policy because the idea is for the space to be accessible to all and a number of members were highly allergic to cats. I can totally understand this (though I didn't appreciate being asked how attached we are to them by one person).

After another half hour of chatting informally, we were told to expect a call within a week. Fast forward two weeks and no word from the co-op. We had decided in the meantime that maybe it wasn't the best place for us because of the location (a little less central) and the size of the apartment itself (huge - if anything, we'd like to be somewhere smaller). I asked one of the occupants (one of three I've known since long before the interview) what was happening, and she informed me that the place had been given to someone else, which is probably the best thing. She said she assumed someone else had called to tell us (which is pretty funny because an assumption is something I don't think she'd accept as an excuse from someone else!).

So, this particular co-op was not to be. However, also in the meantime, we have been helping out J-Lo with a community garden plot. I know jack shit about gardening but I had some fun digging up weeds for half the day last weekend. We bought a pile of seeds and plants and put them in the soil. The more seasoned gardeners around smiled at us and our little tomato plants, so naive are we to think that we'd actually get to eat any of them. People take those when they walk by, you know.

Now I do. But as long as someone's enjoying it, I will happily shift my focus from eating to nurturing.