It’s like overthrowing a dictator

Word count: 246 words

Reading time: about 1 minute

I like to share interesting pieces of figurative language I encounter in my reading. Today’s comes from an opinion piece written by Jessica Soffer in the New York Times.

Have you ever read the spritely Opinionator column billed as an “exclusive online commentary from the Times” — meaning, of course the New York Times? I love it!  It’s free and it regularly offers interesting, insightful articles on writing, many of which I’ve mentioned in my Monday blog posts. But it also provides other intriguing series, including one about living in New York City.

To my deep regret, I’ve never lived in the Big Apple. My husband thinks Vancouver is plenty big enough. Sigh. Nevertheless, I’ve read enough about New York apartments (and seen enough about them in movies) that I found it very easy to relate to Jessica Soffer’s story about the perils of growing up in a 1-BR rent-controlled apartment.

Her story is both engaging and horrifying. A neighbour who would Krazy Glue your locks shut? Say it isn’t so! But for me the best part of her piece was a single simile:

And no, he couldn’t be kicked out — evicting someone from a rent-controlled apartment is like overthrowing a dictator.

Somehow it captures both the pettiness and the authoritarian nature of a nightmare neighbour. Read her story, “Staying Sane in Small Places” and watch for her first book. This young woman can write!

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