Several months ago I moved into my first apartment. It is me (girl), another girl and a guy roommate. We each began to unpack and out came each of our little knick-knacks we’ve collected over our lives. The living room was soon filled with excitingly scented candles, uniquely patterned throw pillows and our collective bookshelf lined with all genres imaginable.

As amateur roommates do, we all were doing little things to help each other. To name just a few acts of kindness; grabbing a phone charger because their phone battery was low, volunteering their lamp to be in the communal space, and buying little treats we knew they liked them.

One day, after coming home I went into the bathroom and saw three cute razor holders shaped like monopoly men with our three respective razors resting on them. I stared inquisitively at this stranger, the monopoly man. Why would there be a razor holder on the mirror? I went to my (girl) roommate’s room and asked her why she put the razor holders on the mirror. She had no clue what I was even talking about. So there we both stood staring at our new inanimate guests.

My male roommate came into the bathroom and said, very matter-of-factly, “I bought one for the each of us. Luckily there was just enough room on the mirror for all three!” Almost simultaneously, my girl roommate and I asked “well why do we want our razors on the mirror?” At that moment, the three of us burst into an eye-opening chorus of laughter that lasted a good few minutes.

Our laughter shattering each of our predisposed expectations of normality. I loved finding the gap in my mindset. Since then, I actively search for the monopoly men around me.