That's What She Said

[John Brunner]

We forget sometimes how lucky we are to have the luxuries we do have. Like @John Brunner said, most of our parents and grandparents and the folks of the time were grateful just to have a roof over their head. A drafty old house was better than nothing to help keep the elements out and a place to sleep.

The house we lived in during my early years still exists. I looked it up on Zillow. 1,000 ft² with 8 people in it. (That explains a lot of the chaos.) My sisters shared the attic and my room was essentially a closet up there, complete with the slanted ceiling (roof.) I still remember melting crayons in someone's 1950s E-Z Bake Oven in that cubby hole.

Fast forward to my adult life and a woman I worked for had a huge modern home in the DC suburbs with vaulted ceilings, with only her and 2 kids in it. She told me she could never go back to a rambler house style because after vaulted ceilings, it would feel like a prison cell. I was living in a 600 ft² home by myself and was perfectly content.