I’ve been living in my apartment now for about two years. There are only nine apartment per floor in my building. I’ve gotten to know most of the people on my side of the floor. One guy works at the supermarket near my place so I see him a lot when I’m shopping for food. There’s the old guy that I’ve talked to dozens of times but for him, it seems like he’s meeting me for the first time, every time. I even know people on the other side of the floor. There’s the young couple where the female is on strata council (she’s a good person to know). Then there’s the older couple that are always so friendly to me. I just met a third couple from that side a few weeks ago. It took almost two years but the meeting did occur. Finally, I know one of the apartments on my floor is not occupied all the time. It’s actually owned by a property management company which rents it out to people for short terms. It’s fully furnished and ready to live in at a moment’s notice. For example, NBC staff (who weren’t important enough to get closer accommodations) lived in that apartment for two weeks while the Olympics were on.
The one apartment that has a resident that I’ve never met is actually living in a unit that is most visible to everyone on the floor. There is only one unit that is across the from the elevators. I probably see the door to that apartment just as much as I do my own. I stand right by that door every time when I’m waiting for the elevator and I see that door every time I come up the elevator when I come home. Despite this, I have no idea who lives in that apartment.
Since it’s in such a central location of the floor, I’ve heard a lot of things coming from that place. I know that resident has a TV. One time I heard the sounds of Kill Bill Vol. 1 coming from behind the door. I’ve heard other movies coming from that apartment as well. Whoever that person is also watches a bit of regular TV. What I haven’t heard are the sounds of video games. Does that mean that person isn’t a gamer? No, they might be a PC gamer but it doesn’t sound like they have a console.
By glancing at the peephole in the door, I can also see if that person has the lights on in their apartment. What I’ve discovered is this person doesn’t seem to keep late hours. I’ve come home late or taken out the garbage late and I’ve never seen the lights on. It’s my guess they are not much of a night owl. They probably wake up early for a regular 9 to 5 job. This probably accounts for why I’ve never run into this person either in the hallway or the elevator. Our schedules never match. They’re gone for work before I’m up and they return home before I even leave my own job (when I was working).
As for the age and sex of the resident, I have no hard facts. I have never heard any voices from the apartment. If had to guess, the resident is probably male. As for age, my guess is maybe late 30s to early 40s. All of this could be completely wrong as I have very little data to go on.
I find it very surprising that I can walk by this apartment every day for about two years and still not know who lives there. Part of me is tempted to just knock on the door one day when I know they’re home to reveal the mysterious resident. I suppose I could just wait in the hallway from 7:30am on one morning to catch the person coming out of their apartment but that would be treading into territory that I would not want to go into.
Will this mystery every get solved? If it does, I will certainly follow-up.