After our wedding, things between my wife and me were simply marvellous. We married with the intention of living with her family for a while. At that time, my mother and father were moving down to the seaside, and their flat in Manchester was sold. The proceeds were divided between myself and my sister. With that money and some additional help from my father-in-law, we managed to purchase a spacious one-bedroom flat in Birmingham, and we had a partition built, creating two rooms from the original. We thought the second room might one day be for a child, but somehow that never came to pass.
In the early days, we simply didnt feel the need. Then both our careers began to flourish, leaving us with precious little time. Eventually, the thought of it felt just out of reach, and my wife steadfastly refused to see a doctor on the matter. Truth be told, I wasnt particularly keen on having a child either. We lived quite contentedly together, neither of us worrying about who might one day bring us a glass of water in our old age. The experiences of our friends, most of whom had children, also influenced usit seemed most were bogged down in debt and not especially cheerful. So in the end, we decided to forego that sort of luck, since life had taken its own course for us.
At thirty-three, my wife and I put our savings into a new block of flats being built in Oxford. The amount wasnt terribly large, so we decided to take the risk, although many people advised otherwise. By the time we were thirty-seven, our flat was ready to move into. We did only the most basic renovations, making it look even more perfect. My wife called it our insurance policyfor children if they ever came, and if not, then it could pass on to our nieces and nephews in the future.
For the time being, we resolved to let the flat out. We tried to rent it directly, without an agent. To spread the word, we mentioned it to a few friends to see if they had any ideas about where else to post an advert, but then came the awkward questioncould some friends with children move in? They had spent years in grotty rented places, and here was a new building with a decent refurbishmentand we could even offer them a mates rate.
That was our mistaketo tell friends about the flat. We hadnt thought any of them would actually wish to move in.
Theres only one bedroomyouve got too many for such a small place, my wife attempted to explain. What does that matter? Were already living in one room, and by the pictures yours is much more spacious, came their reply.
But its freshly done up, and youve got children and a cat as well Oh, so you think were slovenly and were going to ruin the place?
We told them we needed a little time to consider, though I, for one, didnt fancy the conversation at all. Id seen their home and knew the state it was in. In the end, my wife left it for me to ring and decline with some feeble excuse.
What I heard in response was the following:
You have another flat, and one day your parents will pass and theirs will fall to you as well. Still its not enough, and you begrudge us a roof? Youll sit alone with your empty flats, wilt without children, without friends, without joy in life!
Is that a fair reply? We owe them nothing. Its hardly our fault that theyve got children while lacking a home and family support, and now nowhere to go. Everyone gets on as they see fitso why shouldnt we let the flat to a stranger for the proper sum, instead of giving a discount and doing favours for friends?
