Sunday, July 11, 2010

Luxurious Blog Post

It's time that as a society we clarify the terms luxury and resort.  

I didn't know it was a problem until a few years ago when we lived at the blue house.  I did a lot of visiting as a part of my calling in my last ward and I got to be pretty familiar with a certain apartment complex across the way.  The landlord was not known for taking good care of the tenants.  For example one cold, November Sunday in Relief Society we had one such tenant raise her hand to share in our "good news minute" (which often included news of pregnancies, grandchildren, successful potty-training and graduations).   "We finally got our heat turned on," she said, leaving me speechless at the podium and squelching any thoughts of sharing other, more typical good news.

 

After putting in new windows on the apartment the following spring, a new sign appeared outside the apartments:  Monte Vista Luxury Apartments.  

We were all left aghast at the sign.  Did the new windows transform the stained carpet, the cockroach infestation or the furnace problems?  Tenants told me that rent was raised, but that other than their new (and desperately needed) windows, nothing else had really changed.  

Then, a few weeks ago, driving home from Yellowstone, we passed what looked like a run-down motel.  A two-story place with about 20 rooms, the kind of motel you'd rather camp outside of than stay in.  I glanced at the sign boasting, "Resort" and was again perplexed.

That's when I decided that somebody needs to be responsible for the usage of the words luxury and resort, because without any distinction we're left with lot of confused and/or disillusioned consumers.  I propose we have a council who convenes to give a limited amount of licenses to people, allowing them to use the magic words in their marketing. And I think there should be criteria met that would act as proof of luxury.

Well, don't you? 

Otherwise I'm going to start using them for everything.  My luxurious couch bed. Luxury pink tile, my kids' lemonade resort.  My garage/shed luxury resort, complete with extravagant antiquities, including two resplendent twin mattress. 

Actually, scratch the license thing.  I'm starting to feel totally awesome about the lavishness of all my lame stuff. 

8 comments:

Carolyne said...

Ah, Provo married apartments. How luxurious they are. Mold and all.

My husband and I lived in a Provo apartment when we first got married. The was a heater but it was only in the living room, and all the heat seemed, {no, did} to exit right out of the windows. Our bedroom and bathroom were so ridiculously freezing.

It had its original windows still from the thirties. One time, we had the window opened. {They were so hard to push down once opened, let me tell you.} Anyway, for some reason, it decided to come crashing down, and the darn thing shattered. We called the landlord, and he said he'd take care of it. "Oh good!" I thought... "He's going to buy a new window." He arrived shortly after with some glue, and started to glue the window pieces back together. "I asked him, "How about just buying another window with the money we pay in rent?" He snorted back, "Hey just be glad I'm not taping it back together!"

He was such an unsavory character.

Carly said...

I have passed those apartments and wondered about how "luxurious" they could possibly be. I live in Rexburg, which is on the way to Yellowstone! Next time you visit, you should stop by and advise me on choosing paint colors and decorating my luxury resort on 3rd East.

Mandy said...

The Luxury apartments are still the ward joke. :)

Tamsin said...

I remember those apartments being in my BYU student ward too. Specifically, I remember going visiting teaching there and thinking two things:

1) Is this legal?

2) Who put a portal to ca. 1970s Moscow in here?

My husband rolls his eyes at me every time we drive by the luxury apartments, because he just knows it will only be seconds before I burst into a tirade about proper business practices and how dumb would anyone actually have to be before they considered a place like that luxurious.

Rant over.

Hannah S said...

I was wondering the same thing....they all of a sudden transformed into this luxurious complex. Now I know more of the truth and I don't have to physically go there to see for myself. Glad I'm not missing out on a good deal for apartment living.

Hannah S said...

I was wondering the same thing....they all of a sudden transformed into this luxurious complex. Now I know more of the truth and I don't have to physically go there to see for myself. Glad I'm not missing out on a good deal for apartment living.

Rachel said...

i once lived in those luxurious apartments.. before they were luxurious..

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