We were looking at duplexes in Los Angeles and our real estate agent had brought us to a small property, two side-by-side houses on a single lot.

“It’s a very popular situation now,” he said. “Live in one and rent out the other.”

“That’s not what we’re doing,” I said.

“Right,” he said, but he wasn’t quite taking it in.

My girlfriend and I were interested in the two tiny houses but they sold to a different couple, who intended to live in one and rent out the other, as the real estate agent had suggested. We, on the other hand, intended to each live in our own little place. It was a plan that seemed to make people uneasy.

“Is this because you’re an only child?” one of Sara’s friends asked her.

“Yes,” she said, which was simpler than explaining all the real reasons.