When I moved into my apartment, I didn’t go looking for a thermostat.
It was winter and comfortable in the apartment, so I didn’t give any thought to where the thermostat was.
I thought that if I ever had a problem with the HVAC system, I could call the maintenance guy. When it started warming up through the day, I would come home and it would too warm for my comfort, but I still didn’t say anything. It wasn’t until it got warm and I wanted the air conditioning on, that I realized I didn’t have a thermostat. I called the maintenance guy and asked hiim where the thermostat was. I could feel the heat on when I got home from work, and it was almost eighty-five in the apartment. I wanted to turn the thermostat down and save energy, while keeping it cooler in the apartment. He told me I shared a thermostat with another apartment, and it was in their apartment. I thought he was kidding, and told him I really needed it to be cooler in my apartment. He said that if I had a problem with the temperature I needed to talk to the other people. He gave me their apartment number and said to knock loud because they were old and going deaf. I couldn’t believe I needed to share a thermostat, or that I was subjected to their preference. I had two months left to my lease, and immediately put in my sixty day notice that I would be leaving when my lease was up.