Wanna hear something funny?

I was speaking with a friend in Shawnee, Oklahoma yesterday who was complaining to me about the skyrocketing rents in his small town. He and his wife are expecting their first child and they have to move. Looking at 2-bedroom homes, they are excited to learn that they are eligible to rent a house sponsored by the Shawnee Native American tribe (his wife is 1/8th Native American). He was saying how worried they were that they wouldn't get this subsidized housing which made them concerned whether or not they could afford a non-subsidized 2-bedroom home in their community.

Okay, so this is where it gets funny- not necessarily ha-ha funny.

Currently my Shawnee, Oklahoma friends pay $110/mo for their 1 bedroom apartment. The subsidized HOUSE they are going to get is $150/mo. A two-bedroom apartment would run close to $175/mo. So, they are saving $25 because they received word yesterday that they were approved for the subsidized house.

I heard this and, living in New York City, I was stunned and giggly at the same time. But it wasn't necessarily a happy response, it was more of sort of laugh you might expect from someone incarcerated in a mental hospital. It was a nervous laugh- a laugh that said, "What the hell am I doing living in New York City?!" kind of laugh.

I pay really, really, really, inexpensive rent here. I have a 1 bedroom, 700 sq foot apartment "in da' hood" and I pay $950 a month. I was at a friend's party last night (who certainly makes more money than I) and he lives in a converted 2-bedroom apartment and pays just a little over $3000 a month.

See, isn't that funny? Honestly I don't know whether to laugh or cry right now.