Three's company: A man sticks out the pandemic with his ex-wife and his mother

Three's company: A man sticks out the pandemic with his ex-wife and his mother

Transcript¹

A New Yorker sticks out a pandemic in a too-small apartment with his mother and ex-wife. Chaos² ensues — or does it?

It may sound like a pitch for a sitcom³, but Neil Kramer is living it. Kramer has spent the past two years living with his mom and his ex-wife in a two-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment in Queens.

Sophia Lansky, who has been divorced from Kramer for more than a decade after their 15-year marriage, had asked her ex-husband if she could stay with him and his mother — who had already been living there — for a couple of weeks after her roof collapsed⁴ in late 2019.

"I thought it was going to be for like a month," Kramer said during a StoryCorps conversation with Lansky in November 2021.

Kramer gave his ex-wife his room; he slept on the pullout couch in the living room.

Then, COVID-19 hit.

"We almost became dependent on each other for survival," Kramer said.

"There have been moments when things were going on the news, when I would come in there at like 3 in the morning and we just would hug and watch with each other."

Early on in the pandemic, Kramer began chronicling their odd living arrangements through a project, with staged pictures, as a coping mechanism⁵ and a way to tap into the humor and absurdity⁶ of their life at the time.

One of his photos depicts⁷ Kramer covered in bubbles while soaking in a bathtub while crowded by his two roommates.

"Most of our fights revolved⁸ around the lack of space," he said. "I spent a lot of time in the bathtub just hanging out there."

Sophia Lansky, Neil Kramer and Kramer's mother Elaine, crowd into their bathroom in Queens in April 2020 in a staged scene as part of photography project by Kramer.

Neil Kramer

Kramer said his friends want to know: Are he and his ex-wife getting back together?

He and Lansky said they have no such plans.

Lansky said she sees her ex as less of a friend and more like her family, "just not my husband."

As the pandemic drags on, Lansky is trying to figure out her next move. Even when she feels ready to move into her own place, she said, Kramer will always be in her orbit.

If there's one thing she takes away from their experience, she told him, it's his kindness: "That's what I loved about you in the first place."

"What was so unique about the last almost two years was, there was really no one else," Kramer said. "Even though we live in, you know, New York City, a city of how many millions --"

" — New York was a city of population three people," Lansky cut in. "And I wouldn't want to go through this experience without you."

Audio produced for Morning Edition by Eleanor Vassili and Kamilah Kashanie.

StoryCorps is a national nonprofit that gives people the chance to interview friends and loved ones about their lives. These conversations are archived at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, allowing participants to leave a legacy⁹ for future generations. Learn more, including how to interview someone in your life, at StoryCorps.org.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 chaos   

n.混乱，无秩序

参考例句：

• After the failure of electricity supply the city was in chaos.停电后，城市一片混乱。
• The typhoon left chaos behind it.台风后一片混乱。

3 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

4 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

5 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

6 absurdity   

n.荒谬，愚蠢；谬论

参考例句：

• The proposal borders upon the absurdity.这提议近乎荒谬。
• The absurdity of the situation made everyone laugh.情况的荒谬可笑使每个人都笑了。

7 depicts   

描绘，描画( depict的第三人称单数 )； 描述

参考例句：

• The book vividly depicts French society of the 1930s. 这本书生动地描绘了20 世纪30 年代的法国社会。
• He depicts the sordid and vulgar sides of life exclusively. 他只描写人生肮脏和庸俗的一面。

8 revolved   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的过去式和过去分词 )；细想

参考例句：

• The fan revolved slowly. 电扇缓慢地转动着。
• The wheel revolved on its centre. 轮子绕中心转动。 来自《简明英汉词典》

9 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。