Damn Cheap Labor

We've faced some of the same problems with our apartment since we moved in. The kitchen faucet sprays uncontrollably. The dining room lights burn out within a week's time. The heaters work too well. The dryer doesn't work well enough.

We were speaking with our manager about this for a while. I dealt with them into December, leading to some of the very bad days that faithful readers may remember. Then we travelled, and upon my return I decided that I could live with a few bumps in my home. I decided to overlook.

But then I changed my mind.

As I read an advertisement for a luxury apartment in Manhattan, offering many of the same amenities as my complex, and charging about the same rent, I realized something. I realized that for the money being paid to my landlord, I should have a working apartment. If I would repair these things for my tenants in St. Louis, paying $500 a month in rent; then my landlord ought to repair these things for me, paying quite a bit more than $500 a month.

I began the fight once again.

The repairmen came late. Then they had to return. Then they came early. Then they didn't have working supplies. When they returned, everything worked correctly. What's the problem?

And not speaking Chinese, I feel impotent facing the workmen sent to fix these problems. I can't tell them what to do, when to come back or how frustrated I am with the whole problem.

But I've realized what the crux of the matter is. In a land where labor is cheap, the landlord will pay to repair things that I would never dream of repairing in the states. I've not had anything repaired in years. Microwave broken? Toss it out and get a new one. Light fixture blinky? Replace it. Because in the U.S., it really does cost more to fix it than to replace it.

Unfortunately for me, the efficient American tenant, this is not the case in China. I'm beginning to think they will fix things 100 times rather than replace anything.