Coast to Coast

I haven’t written anything in a while. I have a million excuses, but none of them make a strong case; it’s whining no matter how you slice it. I learned some hard lessons in my absence, and maybe one day I’ll pass them along, but for now, I think jotting down a few blurbs will do me some good, and I hope they work for you as well.


My traveling job takes me to a lot of different cities. I literally travel from coast to coast, never in one spot for more than two weeks. It pays well, but I still find myself wishing I had a dime for every time I heard someone say “Ooo, that must be so cool.” I will admit that it is nice to have the chance to see things I probably never would if I didn’t travel, but believe me when I say that living out of a suitcase is pretty much a drag. I’ve learned you cannot have a job like this and have a normal home life. On the other hand, I get to see some weird stuff…

Bums

Every one of my traveling work sites is in a major US city, and with just a couple exceptions, they are in the worst parts of those cities. Now, it’s my personal opinion that everybody should spend some time in the seedy parts of the city, especially those who tend to look down their noses at others. Mind you, I do plenty of that myself, but living among the down and outs can be very sobering. Some people have it very bad. I rarely give money to bums because, as I just mentioned, my first thought when asked for a handout is “ Get a job,” especially when it’s some tool with a $50 t-shirt and $800 worth of “unique” tattoos that look like EVER OTHER person’s tattoos. Oh, and I especially like the young “hipsters” who hang out in front of the 7-11 and ask if I have an extra cigarette. My line is always the same: “Nope. No extras. This pack only had 20. Sorry.” I don’t have a problem being less than polite with them.

Once in a while, though, I feel a little bad. I was in a subway station in DC waiting for a train not long ago. It was pouring down rain; not cold, but not pleasant either. I was on a landing that had escalators going down to the tracks and while it was covered, the wind blew everything wet five feet into the sheltered part. So I’m shaking off the rain and a bum walks past me on his way to root through the public garbage cans. I assumed he was looking for cans. As I watched, he pulled a paper McDonald’s cup from the can, straw still in place, and he put the straw in his mouth like it was his and took a hit to see if there was anything in it. Then he jettisoned the cup and went for the crumpled food bag and unwrapped all the balled up burger wrappers, presumably looking for crusts or pickles or something. In that moment, I was just a little bit moved. I gave the guy a five and told him to walk across the street and get his own McDonalds bag with his own drink. He didn’t smile, but he did mumble “Thanks,” and I went down to the tracks. I don’t know if he bought something to eat or not, but I do know that I hope that I never find myself rooting through dumpsters to eat, or worse, deciding that the money a stranger gave me could be spent on something other than food.

Misanthropic Behavior

One of the problems with traveling all the time is that I have to deal with other people. Strangers. I could say there are a ton of weirdoes in Los Angeles (and there are), but they’re everywhere, in every city. Now, I realize that I’m not the only person in the world, and anyone who knows me knows that I don’t sashay through life expecting others to be mindful of my every whim, but on the other hand, I DO expect common courtesy, and it pisses me off when I don’t get it. By way of example, for as long as I can remember, I’ve known that two people can’t stand in the same place at the same time, and now, almost 50 years later, I see adults trying to do it. Since I live in hotels, I spend (too much) time in an elevator, and I can’t count the times that I’ve ridden to the ground floor to go about my way, and as the door opens, there’s at least one person who wants to get on before I get off. The elevator car isn’t going to go anywhere until I get out, and there will be more room in the car when I get out, so YOU NEED TO GET OUT OF THE WAY. I have a special look for those people, and since I’m not very attractive, it usually works very well.

Kind Strangers

In spite of my complaining about others, I do run into some very helpful people. Since I’m often in a place I’ve never been, I make it a point to ask shuttle drivers or hotel desk clerks where the good places to eat are, and I always make sure to tell them that I want a recommendation that isn’t canned. I want to know where THEY would go to eat and drink. Sometimes this doesn’t work very well, because everyone has a different idea of what’s good, but for the most part, I’ve been pretty successful. As much as I hate New Jersey, I have to admit that I got totally spoiled there. I can’t eat Italian anywhere but Jersey or New York anymore, but I’m glad I found out what I was missing. Can’t eat crab cakes anywhere but Maryland and there ain’t nothin’ like Texas barbecue. I couldn’t have found any of those good places though, without a local raving about them. So I guess they’re not all bad, but it would be a much better place if there were more of the nice ones.