The Lap of Luxury

Tonight I accompanied the Frankes to a barbecue on the top floor of their building.  It was held in a recently renovated apartment with a roof deck facing the street.  Evidently, the unit was totally gutted and redone, floors ripped up, windows replaced, the whole nine yards, at a cost of over $1 million.
 
Now, the minute I walked into the Frankes, I was awed by their luxurious and cavernous loft, but apartment 6B was straight out of a magazine.  It had waxed cherry floors throughout, which, before installation, would cost nearly $30,000.  Not a big deal, Baker pointed out, for people willing to spend more than that on the pair of plasma TV's they had in their living room and upper den (which was also newly constructed essentially on the roof.)
 
It's hard to imagine living in those lush surroundings.  All Baker and I could think about is the panic you'd feel every time sometime set foot in your home since you'd paid $10.00 per square foot for your floor, which, by waxing instead of finishing with polyurethane, you left completely vulnerable to destruction by a drop of water or a few grains of salt.  I'm not quite sure it'd be worth it.