Hello, Arlington I'm a socialist New Yorker. Please don't run me over in the crosswalk.

The "weekly" format is clearly not working out--so I'm returning to the old format of writing when I can and the mood strikes me. Here are some anecdotes from earlier this month.

"I have a knack for figuring out where people are from."
Towards the end of August, friends near and far convened as staff for our Target event at the Shakespeare Theatre's new Harman Center for the Arts. The event was successful, we had fun, and it was part of a mostly great weekend that started with Kathryn's birthday celebration. It was also great to catch up with Heather, in from Brooklyn for the weekend.

One of the staff was Gretchen's roommate, who, during lunch, said to me, "I have a knack for figuring out where people are from."
"Really?" I replied.
"Yes, I totally have you figured out," he said, not really aware that he was sitting in a room full of my friends and family.
"OK," I replied, waiting.
"You're Canadian, right?!"
"Uh, no. Actually, I'm a New Yorker. From Long Island. Not near Canada, eh?" I said, in between laughter.

Side note--shortly after this moment, the Director of Development and I figured out that we knew each other from the Flaming Cupcake at AU.

Public Transportation is Good for More Than The Environment
Being almost entirely reliant upon public transportation is not new to me, though it is a new experience for me here in DC, and especially Arlington. Over Labor Day weekend, I decided to check out the Village at Shirlington, a nearby shopping/dining area. On the way home, an older man struck up a conversation with me at the bus stop. He was asking me about when the bus was coming, then why I moved to DC.
"Did you move here for work?" he asked.
"Yes," I replied.
"Do you work for the government?" he said.
"Yes," I hedged.
"Really? What part?" he asked,
"Education," I continued.
"Excuse me, are you speaking to me with a British accent?" he said.

"No. I'm a New Yorker," I said.

"Really? Me, too. I'm from Brooklyn," he replied.

"Yup. Me too." I said, wondering how Brooklyn could be mistaken for Britain in my tone.

Anyway, we had a polite chat about Brooklyn before the man proceeded to tell me all about his self-published book, at which point I remembered that I'd met this man before on the bus--and he told me all about his book. He continued explaining about how his book was a collection of his research about our "socialist" government and how he thought the Department of Education and IRS should be eliminated.

I Need My New York Back
My actual street is a quiet cul-de-sac, but the nearest road is a relatively busy four-lane thoroughfare. At some point, TPTB of Arlington County decided to paint a zebra crosswalk in the middle of the road--not really at an actual intersection, nor near the traffic light that's about 300 yards away. They even put up the "pedestrian crosswalk" yellow signs for good measure.

No one stops for pedestrians in this crosswalk. Ever. I'm having some trouble adjusting to this new universe where the tables have turned--there are far more cars than pedestrians in this town and this is painfully obvious every time I try to cross the road. You see, in NYC, there are so many pedestrians that even if (when) we are not following the rules, your car would have a difficult time passing because there are just so many of us.

So, I need my New York back. People think I'm from Canada. No offense to Canada (or the Brits for that matter), but come on.