“New York City is a great apartment hotel in which everyone lives and no one is home.” I saw these words on one of those new WiFi stand things while walking home.
I thought about all the different meanings it conveys. “Apartment hotel” indicates that each person’s living space is not only rented, but it’s also temporary, like a vacation spent at a hotel.
“Everyone lives” suggests both residency but also lifestyle. When you hear about someone that “lives life to the fullest,” you might think of him or her as a person that seizes all opportunities that life throws at them. And in that way, New Yorkers truly do.
“No one is home.” No one is home because they’re out living life away from their apartment hotels. Living life as if it’s a vacation everyday. But is a home simply one’s residence? No. To me, a house becomes a home when fond memories are created there with people you love. It’s where you share laughter and sometimes disaster. But ultimately, it’s a place of comfort, rest, and healing. So if home really means that, I would actually feel sorry for New Yorkers if they are never “home”.
Vacations are great, but there’s no place like home. Cue red sparkly shoes heel tap.