Her guests had to sit on her bed! She was still only in her 30s and had a good job, why was her character living so bare-bones? Granted, her storyline in the first episode was about wanting the more desirable apartment, but couldn't the writers have just made Mary's apartment have a better view or something?
shareAnd surely there are other apartments available in that area!
It does seem odd, now that you mention it. On the other hand, once she and Mary get to be good friends, maybe she decides it's fun living that close together, and besides she ends up spending a lot of time at Mary's place.
What I'm still trying to figure out, though, is *where* Rhoda's apartment is. The view of the house clearly shows Mary's apartment (or at least her windows) on the top floor, and Rhoda is said to live in the attic. So apparently there is (or is implied to be) some little cubbyhole one floor above Mary's -- which at least explains why it's so small!
I was always under the impression that Mary had the better job than Rhoda, and an attic flat was all she could afford. This was the 70s after all, and far fewer women during that time made significant money as they do now.
My wife got a master's degree in education in the early 80s, and I was thinking "oh great - teacher's salary". At least she got summers off which is great when you are going to have kids. I mention teaching because that was a typical career for a young woman along with nursing at that time. Of course, now we know that both teaching and nursing became high paying jobs but that was much later than during MTM.