Still missing the weather in America, the low humidity and cooling weather in New York, not so much the one in Washington because I got pretty sun burnt there.
Heading out today to meet Jon & Jenny wasn't too bad because there was a bit of rain, so the weather was not crazy warm, but the high humidity is something I just absolutely abhor because I just felt sticky almost immediately when I left my house to walk to the bus stop.
Anyways, the meeting with Jon & Jenny was alright, they were nice enough to leave me alone during my New York trip, so when I finally met them today, they had a few changes they wanted to make to their design, we walked around the apartment a little, they turned on all the aircon, which was awesome, and we just did some on site measurements and talk about how small their apartment was because it's just an experience anyone who ever buys a new condo will have, the realization that they had just paid a million dollars for a hamster cage of an apartment.
Every time I get a New Condo project, when the owners get their keys and see their space for the first time, it's always the same reaction...
"I didn't realize it's so small."
... I remember getting my first New Condo project, entering the space and just feeling shocked that the bedrooms are so insanely tiny, which wasn't great for the homeowners because my genuine reaction of shock is akin to adding salt to their wounds.
But anyways, as the meeting was going on, I was really hoping that Jon & Jenny's kids won't show up because I really do not like and really do not know how to talk to teenagers, and they have 2 teenage sons. I'd much rather deal with just the 2 adults, if the kids have any comments, let the parents be the proxy because I just automatically assume all teenagers are going to be brats and difficult to deal with.
The chances of the kids showing up are pretty high, this being the first time Jon and Jenny got their keys to the apartment, it's pretty common for the parents to want their kids to also come with them to see the new space.
So as we were discussing about the different room, Jenny gets a call from someone and she starts talking about how she will open the gate and for the person on the phone to just come up, and from the tone she was using, I knew she was talking to one of her kids and I just wanted to quickly wrap things up and leave before the kid shows up, and then the door bell rings and I hear the voice of a teenage boy echo through the apartment, talking rather excitedly about how his day at school has been and what not.
The immediate thought in my head was..
"Fuck... this.... shit...."
... and then Jenny brings his son over, introduces him to me and he was pretty friendly, very extroverted and honestly was a little too much for me.
He was really chirpy and talkative, almost has this bounce in his step whenever he started talking about his day at school to his Mother and he was waving so excitedly at me.
I am someone who is not naturally chirpy and talkative, but I force myself to be more extroverted when I am with clients so they would feel more comfortable, I just feel like I have to be more outgoing than the client and always have something to talk about around them, I will always have to flip that switch in my head and because I am naturally more introverted and maintaining that outgoing personality can get really tiring for me, so when the chirpy son arrived, I just felt like I had one up him, or at least be as chirpy and as talkative so as to be able to keep up.
He was really excited about his new room, but not so excited about the original proposal, he wanted to do his own layout but it really doesn't work, so I tried to share with him why it was not a good idea, like how I had explained to his parents earlier who understood the issues the new layout will have immediately, but alas this was his room, so ultimately, he has the final say, and he decided he wanted to stick with his own layout instead, talking about how the original layout isn't good because it was too high risk for him and joking about how he was afraid he might fall out of the window if he tripped, and as much as I would NOT go for his layout, if a client wants it, all I can do is adhere to their wishes since they will be the one who will have to live with that horrible decision.
The kid wasn't pissing on my idea, I mean the idea was never mine to begin with, it was what his Mum and Dad requested, so I didn't really care about him rejecting the original idea, what I didn't like was just how the kid was not listening to why I didn't think his own idea was good and the fact that he keeps dissing on the original idea that had a better layout.
His Mum did share with me that he wanted to become an Interior Designer in the future as well, so maybe he is attempting to take creative control of his own room as a way to validate his future career choice, but honestly speaking, once it is done up, living in the horribly laid out space will do anything but validate his choice, instead, it will just make him realize that he is a complete greenhorn and actively making a decision that goes against a professional's advice is probably not the smartest thing to do.
The kid is fifteen years old, he has his own ideas and that is why I find teenagers exhausting for me to deal with because that is a stage in a kids's life when the parents start letting them decide for themselves and they don't always make the best decision.
Before I left, I did say my goodbyes to both Jon and Jenny, and also extended my goodbyes to their son, telling him...
"It was nice meeting you."
...he gave me this awkward smile...
...followed by a furrowed brow...
... like he was confused why I was saying "Bye" to him and then finding me weird with that furrowed brow expression. I mean I did straight up lie to his face because it wasn't nice meeting him at all, but I just found that furrowed brow he gave me at the end was really unnecessary.
So that ended my work for the day, on a rather uncomfortable note, then I headed home and started sweating because the weather here is a bitch.
I just wrote a post to bitch about a 15 year old kid, what the fuck is wrong with me.
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