Some words of wisdom from Instagram:
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conversations with strangers #124
1.17.16
me: *arrives in laundry room as washing machine shuts off* *inventories dryers: 1 is out of order, 1 has 37 minutes left, 1 is at 0 minutes* *waits*
me: *still waiting* *anger level at 5* *pulls clothes out of washing machine and sorts into those to be machine dried and those to be air dried* *wonders what the limit is on waiting? In high school and college, a teacher had 15 minutes post the start of class to show up before class was automatically dismissed. It’s been 25 minutes* *continues waiting*
me: *STILL WAITING* *anger level 8*
me: *ponders if I should remove the person’s clothes from the 0 minute dryer.* *I don’t really want to touch those clothes / what if they arrive after I’ve started using that dryer and they do something weird to my clothes* *continues waiting*
me: *dryer which was at 37 minutes when I arrived finishes up*
Three minutes later, a lady comes downstairs and pulls stuff out of the dryer.
Her: Were you waiting long?
Me: Yes. With that one machine broken, it limited my options. That other machine’s been at 0 minutes the entire time I was down here.
Her: I don’t know how people do that. I always try to come down immediately after my laundry’s finished.
Me: I know! Me too. I set an alarm.
Her: I wouldn’t want someone to touch my clothes.
Me: Me neither. Plus, this is a common laundry area. People need the machines.
Her: How long were you waiting?
Me: 40 minutes. That one dryer’s been done this entire time and I kept thinking, “Oh I’ll wait a little longer” and then 40 minutes later, I’m still here. Thank you for coming down so quickly after your machine finished.
Her: Could you have moved the clothes out?
Me: I could have but…
Her: I guess I wouldn’t really want to touch someone else’s clothes.
Me: Yeah and then I wondered if that person would then come down, see their clothes moved, and do something in retaliation? So I just left it and kept waiting. I’m so glad to see you here.
Her: The other day, one of the washing machines had a note on it saying people should remove their laundry as soon as it’s done.
Me: An important note! It’s too bad people have to be told that. It’s common courtesy in a shared space like this.
Her: Okay, it’s all set. All yours.
Me: Thank you!
And thus my dream of having a washer/dryer in my home remains the #1 thing I want in adulthood. I want it so badly! So so so much.
conversations with strangers #123
1.6.16
This particular street is very difficult to cross due to its high traffic levels and speed limit. Essentially, you have to wait for the light to change.There are four points of crosswalk entry, and at each one, the button to push that will allow you to cross is not the normal squishy kind. It’s stiff and has limited motion and the only way you know it’s working is if a little red light goes on. As far as I can tell, the red light only goes on if you’re the first pedestrian to register in. So, despite one’s insistent pushing, the red light might not go on because it’s on elsewhere or it might be that you haven’t found the right angle to trigger the system. All you can do is wait and wonder.
A woman walked up 30 seconds after I finished the routine of pressing, pounding, yelling at the light switch. After another minute of cars whooshing by, I stepped back over to the switch and tried again. No red light signaling it accepted my request, but there were people waiting at two of the other crosswalk entry points. After two more minutes, I prepared to either frogger my way across the street or start the whole light switch thing all over again. As I shifted towards the light switch…
Her: *half smiles at my efforts* Did it catch?
Me: Not yet. But the light doesn’t always go on. This is so temperamental.
Her: Let me try.
Me: Go for it.
*red light illuminates* *traffic light immediately flips to yellow*
Me: Yay! Nice work.
Her: Sometimes you have to work it.
Me: I’m glad you were able to!
And with the crosswalk signal lighting the way, I was one step closer to the office / work day.
party bus
How do you turn a converted school bus into a PARTY bus? 🎉🚌
Fill it with your best buddies, beer and wine and nips, and snacks, and crank up the tunes. The only way I can explain the explosion of fun that was Saturday night is to let the divine playlist do the talking:
“You ready, Biv? I’m ready, Slick, are you?” (POISON, Bell Biv Devoe)
“Tonight let’s enjoy life…” (GIVE ME EVERYTHING, Pitbull)
“Go, Shorty. It’s your birthday…” (IN DA CLUB, 50 Cent)
“Look how I drive, look at my ride, when [we] go by, smoke in your eyes…” (WTF, Missy Elliott)
“[We’re] headed downtown, cruising through the alley…” (DOWNTOWN, Macklemore)
“Bright as the sun, [we] wanna have some fun..” (SHOOP, Salt ‘N’ Pepa)
“Everybody wants a thrill…” (DON’T STOP BELIEVING, Journey)
“You’re with a winner so baby you can’t lose…” (IT’S GETTING HOT IN HERRE, Nelly)
“Clock strikes upon the hour and the sun begins to fade…” (I WANNA DANCE WITH SOMEBODY, Whitney Houston)
“Who will dance on the floor…” (BILLIE JEAN, Michael Jackson)
“[We] got the moves like Jagger…” (MOVES LIKE JAGGER, Maroon 5)
“Stay on the streets of this town…we’re just dancing in the dark.” (DANCING IN THE DARK, Bruce Springsteen)
“Girls just wanna have fun…” (GIRLS JUST WANNA HAVE FUN, Cindie Lauper)
“[We’re] so fancy, you already know, [we’re] in the fast lane…” (FANCY, Iggy Azalea)
“Ain’t nothing gonna break [our] stride. Nobody gonna slow [us] down…” (BREAK MY STRIDE, Matthew Wilder)
“You gotta bounce to this like this…” (HEARTBREAKER, Mariah Carey)
“Someone who knows how to ride without even falling off…” (PONY, Ginuwine)
“We’re yelling T-I-M-B-E-R!!!!” (TIMBER, Pitbull)
“Bye bye bye…” (BYE BYE BYE, N’Sync)
Yup.
And this is just a taste of the songs that had us defying gravity and the laws of motion for three hours as we danced on a swaying/bumpy/jerky vehicle, reminisced about the times we first heard these songs, sang at the tops of our lungs, and added a zillion more memories to my full to near bursting heart.
1.8.16
Two carefully wrapped packages from my parents. Two cards. Supplies inside.
Two playlists prepped for bigger moments tried out early in a small space.
A selfie.
A peppermint mocha and a birthday wish.
More birthday wishes via calls and texts.
A basket of home baked cookies tied with a blue ribbon. A donut slathered with chocolate fudge frosting.
A box from a local chocolatier ordered from very far away. My heart is snapping turtle popcorn shaped.
A stomach swirling with sugar and excitement.
A phone fairly exploding with text messages. Wishes and questions and explanations and catching up and laughter. Relevant and irrelevant topics covered.
Me floating through the day.
Reality: day job duties.
Mini celebrations in the hallways.
Major celebrations online.
Friends traveling from parts near and far.
Love experienced with all 5 senses.
A Friday. The end of a week.
Another year begun.
#ThisIs35
Abigail Mumford 