House of horror

I recently moved to a basement of an old lady’s house. When I first saw the place, it looked more like a dungeon. But, I was in a hurry. So, I convinced myself that if people were not allowed to live in dungeons then probably half the population of New York City would have to be evacuated. My aquarium was the first item that I moved to my new place. After I set it back up, I left to pick up some more of my belongings. When I was back in about 2 hours, I would find all my fish were dead; all 26 of them. Some of them were with me for more than 5 years. I was sad and was a little concerned too that I would be drinking from the same water supply and it might not be quite as potable.

I was not completely alien to the potation of non-potable liquid. In fact, during my undergrad years an earthworm once gleefully announced its existence through the water fountain in our dorm. We were not nearly as amused. In fact, we were quite agitated and few of us met the warden and demanded an explanation and immediate corrective measures. He quietly asked, “Is the worm dead or alive?” There was complete silence for a moment as we were shocked and failed to understand why that information was relevant. Fortunately, we preserved the worm in a plastic bag as evidence. Exasperated, one of us retorted, “It’s alive! See for yourself. It’s still moving. How do you expect us to drink this water?” Though, some of us were quite comfortable with cheap country liquor (could not afford anything more than that) sold illegally just outside the university campus but unlike the present event, it was okay, since that activity was purely by volition and the sellers never claimed that their products were of high quality. And, we were not nearly as friendly with the university authorites (after all they made us attend 8 o'clock classes, which were not really amusing after a prolonged session of illegal liqour in the previous night). But the warden was unperturbed (obviously; he represented the authorities!), ”Well, if that water is good for an worm, it is good for humans”. The logic was solid. If such a small organism can thrive in that environment, how can it cause any harm to the much bigger creatures like the undergrad engineering students?

However, the same logic was not applicable in the current situation as all my fish were actually dead. So, I went upstairs and conveyed my concern to landlady and asked if the water needed any treatment before drinking. Her response was discombobulating too, “Oh well, I have seen so much of death in my life it doesn’t bother me anymore.” Not knowing how to respond, I just stood there as she continued, “I have buried my great grand parents, my grand parents, my parents, my 3 husbands and my 13 children.” I could not help but ask, “Did you bury some of your tenants too?”