Garage Tells All
February/01/2010 11:35 AM Filed in: Humor | Women | Storage | Life Stages | Life of a Rock Star | Nicole Hanratty
Garage Tells All
By Nicole Hanratty
The vast majority of us all start out in the same place post college--renting an apartment and dreaming of the day we will sign our life away to a mortgage and have shelter we can call our own that includes our very own garage. In these youthful and optimistic days, we see a white sparkling clean well-organized space that perfectly fits our car, bicycle, washer and dryer, along with a cabinet that can be used to store a few mementos.
Within days of having the coveted keys to the new front door, we surrender and designate the garage for all of the boxes of things we have accumulated over the years and have no idea what to do with, yet we begged our parents to save. The tennis racket circa 1980s, soccer trophies, the art work from first grade, the notes we passed back and forth to our best friends in junior high school--back when they still called it junior high--fill boxes that we forgot even existed until the day Mom and Dad showed up with them in lieu of a house warming present. They muttered something sweet like, "Here's all your crap," then pulled away faster than Mario Andretti.
We are certain we will get to sort through them all before the end of the month.
Then the month turns into a winter that is far too cold to bear spending time in the garage and a springtime that just calls us outside to enjoy recreational activities. We dig through the boxes to find an old Frisbee, a can of bounce-less tennis balls and a bike pump to refill the air in a tire that seems terminally flat. The mortgage is choking us so we make do with what we have and put all plans to have the garage floor sealed with white epoxy floor coating on hold per the very expensive estimate.
The garage vision bubble pops. The first plumbing issue arises resulting in a flood under the kitchen sink and the bill to fix the old pipes makes us grow up faster than anyone can say, "Welcome to adulthood."
Time tricks us into believing that one day will come sooner than later and our overpriced leased car will at some point fit inside our in demand garage. Because covered space is a premium commodity, we ration that for now maybe we should just use the garage for...(fill in the blank.)
Garages can be used for any number of versatile things. Depending on the stages of our lives we are in, our garages will inevitably spend time serving a variety of functions: a storage facility for moving days and spring cleaning overload; a toy room full of Big Wheels and plastic BBQ play stations that don't fit in the house; a pet kennel for dogs who can't be trusted around babies or not to tear up the couch when left alone; a home office for when we need to escape the chaos we have created inside our four walls; a home fitness center for when we need to get our bodies back into the shape they were before we gained the married and content 20 lbs; a sound-proofed teen rock band studio for when we want to foster our children's creative outlet without having to hear it; a hobby / tool shop for our husband's to stay out of our hair, an extra bedroom for when we need a place to house the in-laws--just kidding Mom and Dad—or the foreign exchange student we’ve taken in to help cover the mortgage; and one day if we’re very lucky it might just house our vehicle. (Imagine how boring life will be by that time&hellip
The eyes may be the window to the soul, but our garages are glimpse into the current stage of our lives and in it the drama, humor, hobbies, function and family memories play out one season after the next.
Au revoir for now...n
By Nicole Hanratty
The vast majority of us all start out in the same place post college--renting an apartment and dreaming of the day we will sign our life away to a mortgage and have shelter we can call our own that includes our very own garage. In these youthful and optimistic days, we see a white sparkling clean well-organized space that perfectly fits our car, bicycle, washer and dryer, along with a cabinet that can be used to store a few mementos.
Within days of having the coveted keys to the new front door, we surrender and designate the garage for all of the boxes of things we have accumulated over the years and have no idea what to do with, yet we begged our parents to save. The tennis racket circa 1980s, soccer trophies, the art work from first grade, the notes we passed back and forth to our best friends in junior high school--back when they still called it junior high--fill boxes that we forgot even existed until the day Mom and Dad showed up with them in lieu of a house warming present. They muttered something sweet like, "Here's all your crap," then pulled away faster than Mario Andretti.
We are certain we will get to sort through them all before the end of the month.
Then the month turns into a winter that is far too cold to bear spending time in the garage and a springtime that just calls us outside to enjoy recreational activities. We dig through the boxes to find an old Frisbee, a can of bounce-less tennis balls and a bike pump to refill the air in a tire that seems terminally flat. The mortgage is choking us so we make do with what we have and put all plans to have the garage floor sealed with white epoxy floor coating on hold per the very expensive estimate.
The garage vision bubble pops. The first plumbing issue arises resulting in a flood under the kitchen sink and the bill to fix the old pipes makes us grow up faster than anyone can say, "Welcome to adulthood."
Time tricks us into believing that one day will come sooner than later and our overpriced leased car will at some point fit inside our in demand garage. Because covered space is a premium commodity, we ration that for now maybe we should just use the garage for...(fill in the blank.)
Garages can be used for any number of versatile things. Depending on the stages of our lives we are in, our garages will inevitably spend time serving a variety of functions: a storage facility for moving days and spring cleaning overload; a toy room full of Big Wheels and plastic BBQ play stations that don't fit in the house; a pet kennel for dogs who can't be trusted around babies or not to tear up the couch when left alone; a home office for when we need to escape the chaos we have created inside our four walls; a home fitness center for when we need to get our bodies back into the shape they were before we gained the married and content 20 lbs; a sound-proofed teen rock band studio for when we want to foster our children's creative outlet without having to hear it; a hobby / tool shop for our husband's to stay out of our hair, an extra bedroom for when we need a place to house the in-laws--just kidding Mom and Dad—or the foreign exchange student we’ve taken in to help cover the mortgage; and one day if we’re very lucky it might just house our vehicle. (Imagine how boring life will be by that time&hellip
The eyes may be the window to the soul, but our garages are glimpse into the current stage of our lives and in it the drama, humor, hobbies, function and family memories play out one season after the next.
Au revoir for now...n
