9:17 a.m. - June 20, 2002
Maryland, the pallid state
I'm in Maryland right now, which will be my home base until August. It's a lot like California--everybody has air conditioning, it's warm, muggy, and the people don't smile much--and if I substitute all the Italians for Hispanics, I feel right at home.
The place I'm in now has two bedrooms and a loft, and that's where I slept last night. I like this loft; there are big windows that overlook a parking lot but that can be excused since beyond the cars is a greenbelt and according to my Welcome! brochure, there's a real live creek down there. Yup, ain't in Cali any more.
In a few hours I need to go to the university and meet Charlene, my "transition assistant" and an office clerk for the department. She is bugging me already. There's paperwork to fill out--paycheck variety and more oh my--and she wants to give me a tour and introduce me to People X, Y, and Z and I didn't want to burst her bubble and say I've been here before and You're annoying so leave me alone, which means I will suck it up and play nice and make a good impression. It's amusing to recall that I used to be a department clerk for the humanities department in college and I wonder if I was as annoying as Charlene. At least I didn't ask for autographs. Not that Charlene has, I'm just saying.
I hope my office is in an old building at least, preferably up creaky stairs with wood floors. I much prefer that to antiseptic and modern and handicap accessible; which is not to say I'm discriminatory against against the ADA denizens. Creaky wood floors put me in a good mood, that's all.
Though my Maryland experience is limited thus far, I'm wondering where all the pigmented are hiding. Where are the Mexicans and Filipinos and Blacks and Asians? I'm sitting on my balcony drinking orange juice and all I see are white folks who give me funny looks. Maybe the pigmented are driving the SUVs, because that's another thing I haven't seen since arriving.
Heh. Am I missing California?
How odd.
