The Mystery of JL

It's amazing.

It really is. After living in this building for three years, I am almost--yet not quite--accustomed to the walls that seem to block out all sound EXCEPT for the sound of someone turning on their bathtub faucet. There is one neighbor (I can't tell if he's a next door neighbor or one right above me) who, every time he turns on his bathtub faucet, literally jars my entire studio with a numbing, deafening noise.

I am perhaps the luckiest girl in the world. This particular neighbor LOVES to use his bathrub jacuzzi. What is "love"? Love is turning on the loud, raucous faucet to take a bubble bath at 3:45 in the morning, waking up neighbors who have to do work the next day. Love is using the jacuzzi 2-3 times A DAY. Love is using the jacuzzi every day, any day, whether it be winter, spring, summer, or fall.

Jacuzzi Lover takes about an hour to fill his tub. So for a wonderful whole hour, my eardrums delight in the constant, non-abating noise. I am reading something, JL startles me with his faucet. I am watching TV and JL turns on his faucet. I literally have to double the volume of TV just to hear the words that come out of the actors' mouths.

It truly is amazing.

I wonder about JL. What kind of person feels compelled to take 2-3 bubble baths a day just to make it through? What kind of job does he have? It must certainly be stressful. Or maybe he tests bubble bath solutions for a living. I wonder why he would be using his jacuzzi at 4 in the morning. Doesn't his skin crinkle up from the osmosis? Are all those bubble baths good for his skin? Doesn't he worry about all the water he's using and how damaging it may be to the environment?

The questions plague my mind. JL is truly a mystery.

I am moving out in a few weeks, and wonder if perhaps I've ever passed by JL while checking my mailbox or unloading my laundry. Will I leave this building and town without ever knowing who the real JL is? If he only knew the impact he's had on my life, an impact so real and profound that I felt compelled to blog about it.