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| On Monday I received a delivery attempt notice from the post office, and I checked off the box that said "Leave package" and the next morning I left the notice on the mailbox. 2 days later and the package has still not been delivered. So today I called the post office on the card... here is that conversation:
Lady on phone: Van Brunt Post Office.
Me: Hi. I received a delivery no-
Lady (cutting me off): We're closed, ma'am.
Me: Well, I'm not coming in or anything. I just-
Lady (still rude): Tomorrow morning, ma'am.
Me: Fine. Bye.
Five minutes pass.
Lady on phone: Van Brunt Post Office.
Me: Hi. I just called about-
Lady (bitchily): We're closed.
Me: Yeah, I understand that, but I want to know why you're answering the phone if you're not going to answer my simple question.
<Silence>
Me: Because if you're not going to answer any questions why are you bothering to even pick up the phone?
<Silence>
Lady (quietly): Because I'm waiting for a phone call.
Me: Well you still don't need to be nasty to me when I ask a question. If you're going to be rude, don't answer the phone.
<Click>
I didn't even wait for a response. What a bitch. I am still pissed off. I mean... am I wrong?! 
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| OK, so I am slacking again. What can I say? I am lazy. Well, also I am tired, not just lazy. By the time I remember what I want to write, I am ready to go to bed! I need to keep a little notebook with me and jot down all these little tidbits of information so that I don't
forget them.
Since I can't possibly remember all the stuff that happened since I last wrote, I will delight you all with a recap of my 3 most interesting subway experiences. They are not incredibly wonderful, but they were interesting at the time, and still pretty interesting if I do say so myself.
The first was about a month ago – Brad and I got on the subway at City Hall-Brooklyn Bridge to go home, and there was a woman sitting down all hunched over. Her chest was on her knees and her head was hanging over her knees and she was kinda slipping toward the floor. She wasn't homeless – she was dressed in "normal" clothes, and had a purse and
some shopping bags with her, but they were just dangling from her wrist on the seat next to her. I looked at Brad and was like, I wonder if she is OK. There were a few other people that were probably wondering the same thing, so I watched to see if she was gonna get up when she felt herself sliding more off the seat. After about a minute, I decided that something was off and I told Brad I was gonna see if she was OK. Before I could, some woman, probably in her mid-20's aks aloud "Isn't anybody going to see if she is ok?!" And she said it with such a holier-than-thou attitude and with such a disgusted look on her face, I wanted to be like, Um, if you're so concerned, why don't you ask? But I decided it wasn't worth the effort, and I just went over to the woman and kneeled down next to her. I put my hand on her knee and was like, "miss, are you alright?" And she kind of awoke with a jerk, like you do when you are startled out of sleep. She looked at me and I could tell she was pretty out of it, and she was like, Oh thank you miss, I'm fine, I just took some medicine that I shouldn't have" and she sounded a little like she was drunk or something, but not really. I asked her if she needed any help and if she wanted me to get some medical help at the next station but she said no, that her sister was waiting for her at the last stop. She started talking to me about how she got different medications from different doctors and she took them together but she thinks it was probably a bad idea. She takes some pill bottles out of her bag and shows me what she took- a heavy duty antidepressant/tranquilizer like Xanax and Tylenol with Codeine. Needless to say, these 2 are pretty powerful on their own, let alone taken together. No wonder she was knocked on her ass. She explained that she had a bad back so that's why she had the painkillers, and also that her other sister died last week and that is why she was on the tranquilizer. I told her I was sorry and I listened to her until it was my stop. I asked her again if she needed any assistance and she said she would be ok. The woman sitting next to me said that she was going to the same stop and would make sure the lady got off the train. The lady was like, "thank you for being so kind, God bless you, thank you for your kindness." I felt much better knowing that the woman was not laying there dead on the train and no one was saying anything. You read about that every now and then; a homeless guy or an elderly woman sitting on a subway car for hours before anyone realizes they have died. I would have felt horrible if the woman was sick and needed medical help but no one asked. I still can't believe that other lady had the nerve to pass judgment on the rest of us when she clearly wasn't going to do anything. Some people…
Ok, so that event wasn't very funny, but definitely an interesting moment for me. The next thing, which happened about 2 weeks ago, was a funny one. We are going home from work and we get off at our stop (Grand Army Plaza, on the 2/3) and depending on which stairs you use, there are either the regular turnstiles to exit to the revolving door type exits. We were on the side with the revolving exits. There are only 2, and sometimes there are a lot of people, so we are waiting to exit, and I go in, and start turning it, and it stops! So I push again and it is not moving, and I'm thinking, holy crap and I'm stuck in a turnstile! So I turn around to see why it is stuck and to get Brad's opinion, and there is a woman in the little space with me!!! I am so taken aback by it, my face must have been reading "WTF?" So the lady is like, I am so sorry! I turn back around and we kind of shimmy around in baby steps so that the thing opens on the one side and we get out. I turn and wait for Brad, and the woman is like, "Oh I am so embarrassed! I wasn't paying attention and just walked in, I'm so sorry!" I laughed and was like, that's Ok, I've done that with regular revolving doors before (which is true – I did it when I was little, when I was with my dad, and I got into the same little space as him, he was like, what the heck are you doing?) lol. After the woman was out of earshot, I was laughing hysterically with Brad. It was just one of those random little things that doesn't really hurt anyone, and you can get mad or you can appreciate the humor of it and laugh til your belly hurts. I prefer the latter!
Ok, so the most recent moment was this past Friday. We were going to work and we got on the train at Grand Army Plaza. Sometimes if there is a seat, I will take it if no one else wants it, so I did. One stop later, a man and woman get on. He has a suitcase and she has a little baby in her arms – he couldn't have been more than a few weeks old (so cute!). So when I saw her, I stood up and was like, here, please sit. Both the man and woman said thank you, and she sat with the baby, who was starting to cry. I think they were tourists; their suitcase said Turkish Airlines on it. The woman was cradling the baby, trying to calm him down, and all of a sudden, she whips out her breast and starts breastfeeding right there! I saw nipple! Now, I don't really have too much of an opinion on breastfeeding in public; I don't think it is the same as someone flashing his genitals on the subway, but I don't necessarily think it is appropriate either. I suppose if they are European, things are different from where they come from, as Europeans are more comfortable with the body than Americans. From what I hear, half the commercials over there have topless women in them. But in America, we take these things a little differently. Like, maybe if she had a little blanket or something she could have draped over the baby, that would have been OK, but no – there was this breast just hanging out on the subway. While many people view it as something beautiful between a mother and child, others may be offended. What if a young
child saw it and wanted to know what the baby was doing? What if his parents were not ready/willing to explain it to him? It really is a difficult topic, one that cannot be answered easily. Either way, it was an interesting morning! | | |
| Damn, I'm slacking again. I really don't mean to, but by the time I get
home from work, eat dinner, and shower, I am ready to go to bed! Now I
know what my mom was talking about all those years… Being an adult is
not very exciting. I don't have anything to look forward to. Actually,
nowadays, sleep is a pretty nice prospect.
Speaking of prospects, this weekend Brad and I spent most of Sunday
walking around our neighborhood, and we took a stroll through Prospect
Park. It is beautiful there, lots of green grass and trees. I wish I
could lay in the grass and fall asleep. But you have to be careful,
because someone might kill you if you do that past dark. Well, maybe
not right past sunset, but late at night you don't want to be walking
around Prospect Park by yourself. Technically, you don't want to be
walking around any park in New York by yourself at night. But I do feel
safe in my neighborhood and my building. That is one thing I was not
going to compromise on when we were looking for a place.
Today at work I went to a public hearing on Street Furniture (this
includes bus shelters, newsstands/kiosks and soon pubic toilets!). It
was pretty interesting. Howie, my boss, testified and answered
questions (as did the Commissioner) and then people could speak for or
against the contract. It seemed like the only ones complaining were the
2nd and 3rd bidders, and they were just pissed they lost the chance at
the contract. So they have their lawyers try to find reasons why the
RFP (Request for Proposal) is not valid and why is should be bid out
again. Whatever, you lost, get over it. I hope the committee approves
the contract; Howie and Sarah and a lot of other people have been
working very hard on it. Oh, and what is up with men putting their
hands in their pants pockets and jingling the coins that are in there,
especially during a public hearing? Two men standing near me
were doing it, I wanted to punch them in their collective faces.
 Yesterday
(may 10) was the 6th anniversary of my grandfather's death. He died the
last week of classes my freshmen year - I thought about it all day. I
thought about all the things that my grampy wanted for me, and I
decided that he would be so happy and proud if he was around. He would
be ecstatic that I have a government job, and I know he would love
Brad. (He would like Molly too, because she doesn't pee on the couch
like his cat did). I just wish he could have seen all these things for
himself. But I think maybe he can see what's going on, and I think he's
proud of me… somewhere.
More about family, my sister had her junior prom last week, and I
really would have liked to be there, but I could not take the time from
work. But I saw pictures, she looked beautiful, I can't believe my little sister is almost
17. Holy crap, did I just write that?? How can she be 17?! I know I got
older, but I guess I will always see her as my little baby sister. Like
any other sisters, we have had our share of fights, but we have to
stick together, because we are lucky to have each other, and I remember
that everyday.
Ok, now that I am getting all mushy, I think it is time to go. I really
do enjoy writing these entries, I forget how good it feels to get this
stuff down on (the proverbial) paper. I don't know why, but it is
cathartic. I need to remember that. | | |
| so this weekend was really great. we went to binghamton, basically for
hysteria, but it was spring fling too. I hung out with the boys; we had
sno-cones, and cotton candy, and funnel cake (yea, i was a pig), and
then sunday was hysteria. besides my bing boys, i saw michi, pete,
dave, jordan, sharon, a whole bunch of people, and it was a beautiful
day. I even got a little sunburned on my face 
but its not too bad. oh, and did i mention that Roosevelt WON?!
I'm so proud of them, they did such a good job. i used to miss doing
all that stuff a lot, and i still do, but now i appreciate just
watching and enjoying it from the sidelines (although i guess i still
wish i could participate a little). i will have pictures up soon i hope!
work was ok today, i actually had stuff to do, so it went by pretty
quickly. brad and i had lunch, and i didnt want to go back inside, it
was so nice out! but alas, it is only monday, so i have to do it four
more time before the weekend :-p
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| "everybody knows, it sucks to grow up..."so in the last 2 days i have been to the lower east side for work twice. the first was to drop off a purchase order, then
today i actually had to pick up the purchase! it wasn't too bad, it was
nice to get out of the office for a little bit, and it was a beautiful
day!
did anyone ever notice that in the union square 456 station, there are
moving subway platforms? they are these little grates that move to fill
in the space between the platform and the train. it was really neat - i
never saw them before. i kept hearing the announcement "ladies and
gentlemen, please do not stand on the moving platforms until the train
is stopped" and i am thinking what the hell are they talking about? but
then when the train came, i saw it, and i was like, ohhhh, thats cool.
yeah, im a dork and a resident-tourist.
it is nice to finally have internet, i was going crazy. but its funny,
because now that i am working, i am too tired to stay up late and talk
to people  being an adult is stinky.
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