Repeat Offender

Today, there was a man on the T soliciting an extra $10 for the commuter rail to get to a town outside the city: "Please, if you can help me out. I'm trying to get to... I have $18.80 and I need $28 to get there. Please, I'm in rehab..." And after some silence and no donations, the guilt trip set in: "Please, come on, no one has anything? I just need a few dollars!"

I may have just been guilt tripped by a beggar. I gave him a dollar. The man sitting next to me then says the same dude was here a few days ago asking for money to visit his kids or something. Sooo, this was not a one time deal, and basically I've been "had"? Great. On the bright side, I have high hopes that this man will have a job soon based on his fundraising abilities alone.

Contact Sports

Hockey is definitely a contact sport. But is weed-smoking? I think there might be more fighting than goals going on in a game of hockey, but I shouldn't judge, I'm not an avid watcher. What I DO watch is where I sit on the bus, and a few days ago, I think I almost got a contact high from a fellow T-rider and Bruins fan. I sat down behind an older gent dressed in the signature bumble-bee yellow & black Boston Bruins jersey and shortly after realized he smelled like a doobie... looks like the bees aren't the only ones buzzing, sir.

Embryo Status

Seriously, I think this is the tightest space I've been in since the womb. I'm on the train wondering why people are trying to pack it in like sardines. You know you don't realllly wanna go to work... Anyways, thank goodness State Street is the next stop. It's about to be Exodus out here, movement of Ja people. Looks like Moses and Bob Marley understood my pain.

Played

Sir... I'm pretty sure you just got played by someone who couldn't even see you. Shocking as it is for anyone to offer a seat on the T, the man sitting next to me just did - and even vocalized his offer, not like some eye contact or a head nod that could easily be played off - to a visually impaired woman (I mean, she had a seeing eye dog) who boarded the bus with a giant black lab. Go 'head for not needing anyone's help, but even I take seats offered on the T. It's like finding secret treasure (mmm, or just kindness) in the heart of Beantown.

Beautiful

The day did not end with random man and a stripper comment. Nope, this is Boston, where unsolicited side commentary runs rampant. After these last comments though, I'm thinking maybe I should spend more time on the red line, since apparently the orange line is filled with crazies.

So, post hair appointment - which was fabulous and was with the stylist that shall remain nameless becuase if I say his name I'd have to book appoinments even further in advance than 6 months - compliments were flying. And not that you should believe everything that people tell you, but if it's true, well, I like to embrace that as positive reinforcement;)

One woman stopped mid phone convo tell me my hair looked looked "beeeeautiful!" and another man, let's just call him Cool Cat, told me as he walked by "Young lady, you're the definition of a beautiful black woman." Awwww! You don't even know me, but you are sooo right! Hahaha, love it!

I'm in Love with a Stripper

I guess my pants were too tight. Some slovenly man at Sullivan station sitting very randomly by the elevator after I scanned my Charlie card just asked me if he could sit on his stool and watch me do my Beyonce thang... (extra confused face) I'mmmm not really sure if that was a compliment, or if he was calling me an off-duty stripper? She is attractive, famous, and fabulous, but her onstage "look" consists of uni- or leotards with shimmering pantyhose - a look that just might lend itself to sexual harassment if she could hear the screams of her fans in the audience, or just this particular fat man scoop. Even still, at least she's PERFORMING when she's dressed like that. I'm just tryna go downtown! Soooo, I guess I'm wearing mumu's from now on :(

The Mad Dash

I must say, the biggest setback to travel is having to take multiple modes of transportation to get to where you wanna be. I know it kind of defeats the purpose of my blog to say this, but sometimes, expediency is of the essence.

I´m currently in Spain:) Which is great. Amazing! And it´s good to be back here and reliving memories of a previous life. The whole traveling sha-bang hasn´t been an issue since I´m traveling with a good friend and a tourbus. But... getting to Madrid from Boston was a 6 step process including the 4 subway connections, 1 bus, and a plane ride - mostly with a 40 pound suitcase in tow (I know, my bad). But still...

Some day, my version of traveling in style will not just be walking down the street with extra sass and riding elevators so as not to break a sweat. No. Some day, traveling in style will imply a car rental or chauffeur to bypass [almost] all of those steps.