apartment hunt: No, really… I’m black.

I’m going to keep a bunch of these entries in draft mode until this is all done with, because I respond to the craigslist apartment postings with my usual e-mail address and signature which includes the address of my blog. It’s due to my very first craigslist callback checking out my blog that brought this about.

I was in the middle of easing my stress playing some WoW when the phone rings. Seeing it’s a 202 number*, I leave my Shaman to get trashed while I answer the call and grab for my notepad. She seemed like a very nice sort, clearly read my e-mail about my situation and while I’m on the phone, she’s surfing to my website/blog. Now if you’ve ever chatted with people while they’re not just surfing, but actually reading a web page/site, you know it’s impossible. Their attention is no longer focused on you. However, lucky me that my top o’ the page entry at the time happened to re-state my current situation. So I’m more or less telling her what she’s already reading online. When I say reading, I mean reading out loud, so I’m not sure if I should speak or I should let her speak, or what.

She asks a bit more about what I write about and then she asks, “Is that you.. I mean a picture of you in the corner?” I replied that it was me, yes. She then asked, “So you’re black? Because you don’t sound like a black person. I mean you weren’t raised in.. uh..” I cut her off, “I grew up in the suburbs, near Atlanta.” She seemed a little hesitant, but satisfied with my answer and continued to tell me about the apartment.

I’m a little surprised I even found a voice to speak with her after that because I was stuck in that moment that a lot of minorities (of any type) get. The “Did I hear what I think I just heard?” moment. As I was keen to get through the phone call and make my first callback a good one, I didn’t call her on it and made an appointment for the following Sunday morning. I’ll be in the area around that time anyway, so it’s no skin off my nose. And the uppity black man in me** really wants to see this woman in person.

Cut to four days later…

So I’m not saving this one up because I don’t plan on taking the apartment and it’s still bothering me a little bit. I have been torn between whether her statement was racist or just… stupid. In reflection it seems like the latter, that perhaps her “brain to mouth” filter wasn’t working. 🙄

I did keep the appointment and met her and she seemed nice enough. I got there at the same time as a couple that were viewing a 2-bedroom place in the same building. The landlady was a little too comfortable in her tenants’ apartment, taking a seat and putting her feet up, letting her dog run around the place even though they had a cat. The apartments were certainly nice enough, but some of the statements made worried me. Primarily, “Everyone’s a nice person here because I handpick them. And I only pick nice people.” Seemingly innocuous, but for a moment it also sounded like a cult invitation. But I will say this, her dog was absolutely adorable.

So it wasn’t the best start to the apartment hunt, but I have the feeling it could have been a lot worse. I do wonder what might have happened if she hadn’t seen a photo of me prior to my showing up. Would she have called the cops? I’ve included a PDF of the listing, for both reference and sort of an internet hobo-sign of warning,*** with the identifying information redacted or removed. As you can see, it sounds like a nice enough place, but I’ll pass. I can still wait to move till I find the perfect place, I already lined up movers with moving companies dfw, but they will have to wait to start handling my things it seems!