SzescstopniFeb 19
The dream of most people on Twitter, Instagram, and such, is to have an enormous mansion in Florida. The dream of most people on Mastodon is to have a small decent house somewhere in a forest where it's not too hot.
Show threadrk: it’s hyphen-minus actuallyFeb 19

@Szescstopni

I want one of those tiny apartments that somehow manages to have three bedrooms in it in Manhattan. Once the kids move out we can downsize to one bedroom. How does one do this?

Show threadPseudo NymFeb 19

@rk @Szescstopni

Be on a US TV sitcom with wacky neighbors.

Show threadrk: it’s hyphen-minus actuallyFeb 19

@pseudonym @Szescstopni

“I work as a barista at a coffee shop and live in an enormous apartment in Manhattan within a couple of blocks of Central Park! This is not suspicious at all.”

Show threadSzescstopniFeb 19
@rk @pseudonym I assume you might be referring to something I haven't heard about.
Show threadrk: it’s hyphen-minus actually

@Szescstopni @pseudonym

Sorry yes. You have now been dragged into a distinctly American conversation, I apologize.

Feb 19 at 11:21pmWeb
Show threadSzescstopniFeb 19
@rk No need to apologize. What's this story with a barista in a huge apartment? @pseudonym
Show threadrk: it’s hyphen-minus actuallyFeb 19

@Szescstopni @pseudonym

A lot of American television shows are set in New York City and feature “regular people with regular jobs” who would, in reality, never be able to afford an apartment like that in NYC without three roommates and a second job.

Show threadSzescstopniFeb 19
@rk Got it. Yes, tv shows are weird. The more "reality" they try to have the moire fantasy they contain. @pseudonym
Show thread🇨🇦 Little-kFeb 20
@Szescstopni @rk @pseudonym
I think he's talking about the sitcom 'Friends'
Show threadPseudo NymFeb 20

@OohOkayKay @Szescstopni @rk

Or US sitcoms in general, but Friends is a good exemplar.

3 bedroom apartment in NYC would be terrifically expensive, yet on TV shows, folks with modest jobs and wacky neighbors have huge apartments with no apparent source of income to support them.

It's just sort of a genre trope.

Show threadJTWFeb 20
@pseudonym @OohOkayKay @Szescstopni @rk IIRC in one of the final episodes of Friends they explain that the apartment was affordable because of rent control.