Never mind the balconies

I derive great pleasure from watching other people’s behaviour when they are utterly unaware that someone else is observing them. However, watching your neighbours in Poland isn’t easy. We are not a nation of exhibitionists and like to hide our privacy behind curtains and blinds. But no one seems that bothered about leaving dirty boots by the door or junk on the balcony. And as much as it might be understandable to keep your bike on the balcony or dry your washing there (which is also frowned upon, but clothes need to dry somewhere and the best place is in the open air), it still never ceases to amaze me how carefree we are in the uses we put our balconies to, storing our winter tyres on them, along with surplus furniture, artificial Christmas trees and broken washing machines. Balconies, which were originally designed as summer recreational spaces, have instead taken on the roles of storage lockers, pantries, junk rooms and even billboards for broadcasting our views. So I