Turf Wars

I think a lot of you have visited Ye Olde Jost Homestead here in New York (a satelite location of the original, located in Musk-e-go). Yes, I know. Homestead is being a bit...generous. We live in a bona fide apartment, complete with hallways that would make any decaying sanitarium look like The Plaza, a superintendent, and less than spacious living quarters. No, I'd never complain that our apartment is tiny, but when it comes to storing things I take great pains to give off the appearance that our space is clutter-free. This endeavor is next to impossible with a toddler who has the inexplicable talent of entering a room and dismantling it within 30 seconds and leaving a trail of destruction where ever she goes. Still, try I do to keep things tidy.

But I've gotten off course a bit. One of the first things people say when they arrive for the first time is "Wow. You have...a lot of strollers." We do. We have one for running. One for everyday use (I like to think of it as the station wagon I don't have). One for squeezing into tight places and taking on trips. And of course, Ms. Kate has her own tiny stroller for when she feels like pushing Curious George or a collection of pilfered items around town. All are carefully stored outside our door in an orderly line, each time put away in such a fashion that the only door they impede is our own. Sort of like having our own attached garage. It's a nice little arrangment.

That is, until we recieved a very important looking "Memo" instructing us that we were no longer allowed to store our armada of strollers in the hallway. "They'd" be coming around Monday (today) to tag any items in the hallway and if they weren't removed in three days they'd be disposed of. As a matter of fire safety, see. At first I was incensed. WHO ARE THESE PEOPLE TELLING ME WHAT I CAN AND CAN'T DO WITH MY STROLLER(S)? I'M LEAVING THEM THERE AND I WILL SHOW THEM WHAT I THINK OF THIS MEMO! (Seriously...you don't want to mess with me and the clutter situation at my home). HAVE THEY EVER TRIED TO PUSH A STROLLER IN ONE OF THESE DOORS? I push my strollers on New York sidewalks. Do you know what is on those sidewalks? Would you want THAT on your floor?

This initial anger cooled slightly and a friend and I began plotting. Should we email the powers that be and tell them to concentrate on more important safety issues, namely the rodent situation in my kitchen? Better still, should we continually cut the tags off? Surely we'd out last any tagging effort they could produce. My civil disobedience gears started turning...let's cut the tags off and glue them to the lobby walls! No! Let's stuff them all in an envelope and mail them to The Man! That'll show 'em!

Or sadly, and most likely...let's just put them in our apartment for a week and then return to business as usual. Unless you have a better idea...