Schizos (Are Never Alone)

There is something peculiar about a residential dwelling unit. It plays a dual role. When we buy it we are buying a home. When we sell it we are selling a house.

Real estate agents are acutely aware of this dual role, this semantic distinction. They know that when we're out looking to buy, the agent is trying to find us a home. Welcome Home! With a home comes all our emotional baggage; the place where Billy first learns to walk. Where Billy is conceived. Where Billy splits open his chin on a pogo stick in the driveway. Where neighbors gather on the Fourth of July with wine, song and fireworks. Where living is celebrated. A place to spend many quality years, wrapped in lush landscaping, private community parks, and quaint, tranquil streets. We buy a home with upgrades and optional amenities that offer palettes of self expression.

Yet agents also know that when a new housing unit is built or when an old unit is being 'unloaded', it is sold as a house. And in labeling it a house we detach any sense of place. All emotional attachments are removed and any thought of what makes it a nice place to live is destroyed. We are looking to extract as much profit from our equity as possible. We sell it as "freeway close," or "Shopping District close." A home doesn't have a "newer" roof, but a house does.

This is the standard Merikan schizophrenic nature of buying and selling.