One of the reasons I’m so busy right now is that I’m trying to find a place to live in Washington DC. Finding a place is annoying enough generally, but it’s especially aggravating this time because I’m not in DC, and can’t actually see these places in person. So I’m spending a lot of time trolling craigslist, trying to sift the useful listings from the ugly, overpriced, desolate, and creepy ones. Not to mention the thinly-veiled ads.
Which is all to say that I’m getting really sick of seeing listings claiming that apartments are three blocks from the metro when anyone who knows the city (or, um, has ever been to the apartment) knows that it’s at least seven blocks away. And that’s a generous calculation. It’s not three blocks, it’s never been three blocks, and unless they pave over Willard, Swann, Riggs, and Corcoran streets, it will never be three blocks. So we’re talking about brazen deceit here, not “putting yourself in the best light” or however we characterize the piddling inaccuracies that riddle our resumes and facebook profiles.
Now, in the bad old days, this kind of thing might have been more effective. But we’re a bit better equipped to assess these claims. Why bother lying, when the truth is so easy to suss out? I Guess We’ll Never Know.
Follow me on Twitter