OMG, you guys. Forget about Darfur, okay? The big crisis this week is New York City apartments' lack of washing machines. For serious!

In her new New York Daily News column, Lenore Skenazy compares life in a small apartment in the big city to life in big house in a small suburb:

This column has nothing to do with sour grapes. It has to do with suburban American houses bloating like sun-baked whales and the fact that I am SO GLAD I live in a typical New York City apartment where I don't have to worry about heating, cleaning or decorating thousands of extra square feet, or filling tons of walk-in closets, or having to eat, sleep, read, watch TV and entertain in a bewildering maze of (or at least, more than two) separate rooms.

Okay. Maybe I do harbor one sour grape: Most suburban homes have room for a washer and dryer. That beats the laundermat [sic.]. But otherwise, who really needs all that space? And what's the deal with cathedral ceilings? Since when did the Hunchback of Notre Dame become America's favorite decorator?

Ha ha! What's a Darfur?

New Yorkers know from 'great rooms [NYDN]