Wednesday, Sept. 17, 2003
Secret Agent Man, posted at 3:52 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com I worked out last night, for the first at a gym in six weeks and the first time at all in about two weeks. It felt so damn good. Just 25 minutes on the eliptical machine got my blood and endorphins flowing. I missed that feeling so much.The ride home was the high point of a week that has been full of tiny high points - making a cash deposit from tips money into my bank account, hearing that Wesley Clark will run for President, even being involved in the scary excitement of hurricane fever here on the east coast. I walked out of Bally's, and the late summertime air was cool and fresh. I cranked the stereo, and just as I turned onto a nearly abandoned Northern Parkway, a previously unheard version of one of my favorite songs - James' "Laid" - came on WRNR, and I cranked it up and rolled down the window, letting the sweet summertime wind flow over my sweaty shirt. Great evening.
Two days off from the restaurant have given me space for reflection on it, and I'm really happy about the job so far. The extra money is nice, and will feel even nicer when I make my first huge student loan payment next week. It's also nice to hang out with a new crowd, one that isn't connected to teaching. A couple of teachers work there, and we do talk about our jobs, but it's not a focal point. That's nice.
In addition, it's cool to have sort of a separate identity over there. I haven't lied to them, but over there, I can settle into slightly different roles than I usually do. For example, one time I had a 2-hour break in the middle of a double. I called up Renee, who lives a block away from the restaurant, and we both had a huge beer at Crabby Dick's. I went into work with sunglasses and was a slightly altered. One of my coworkers thought I had gone home to smoke marijuana, and, despite my initial protestations, the joke has stood up. Every time I make a little clumsy move with a tray, Chris says, "That's what happens when you come into work when you're baked," and we chuckle, and I know they think there's some truth to what they say. It makes me feel like a secret agent.