Asses on the Road

Every time a man sees a skirt, I swear he thinks it's his moral obligation to come over and comment (read: harass) the woman who's wearing it. Yes, this is a vast generalization, but I have found it to be true (and irritating) on more than one occasion. Interestingly enough, it happens almost every day I'm wearing a skirt.

On the road, most men think they are some kind of god who women desire to flock to and touch, so paying attention to a young, attractive 20-something woman is probably like a favor to her, right? Wrong.

On Tuesday, there was a group of older men meeting in the room adjacent to ours. Of course, I got "chatted up" (read: harassed) multiple times by multiple men and by the end of the day, I couldn't take it anymore. I mean, I can only be nice for so long! Stop making random conversation with me just so you can boost YOUR ego by talking to a pretty girl! I don't care about you! You're selfish and insecure and you're not as handsome as you used to be, so leave me alone! Perhaps if you were kind and sincere and weren't raised in an era when you were taught to dehumanize women, maybe THEN I wouldn't mind polite chatter, but you keep looking at me like you haven't seen a woman in 12 years and I'm really SICK of hearing that you're hitting up the hotel bar (hint, hint, wink, wink) or that you, too, were an emotionally rowdy child who had a learning disability and couldn't cope, so good thing we're teaching about it. Please go away! And, no, I DON'T get bored sitting here all day, thank-you-very-much!

God, that feels better.

In other news, I went out to eat with an "ex" (kind of, we really only dated for about 6 weeks, so who really counts that?) on Tuesday night and was surprised to find out that he was bringing his girlfriend as well. Thanks for the heads-up 15 minutes before picking me up! Turns out, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I bonded with her quite quickly -- she's almost my new best friend! I really adored her; we spent over 3.5 hours at dinner at this quaint little Italian place discussing politics and race and gender and oppression. (What did you expect? I have some serious opinions...) It was interesting and stimulating and enlightening all at the same time, and I'm so happy that I went! They think they'll be moving back to Minnesota soon, so we can all be friends when I move back as well. (Although, those of you hoping for an early move back will be disappointed to learn that I may be keeping this job -- based out of Seattle -- for a few more years, so my journey back to Minneapolis will be delayed indefinitely.)

Side note: New Yorkers are a different breed of people. They have such a strong and skewed accent, they are harshly (if not refreshingly) blunt, and they use their car horn as much as they blink. (They're crazy.) But, I love it here. It's beautiful and being an hour away from the City is exciting.

The drives this week have been gorgeous. Traveling through the Catskill Mountains during the autumn season seems unparalleled. I only wish a few things: 1) it hadn't been so rainy; 2) it hadn't been so foggy; 3) it hadn't been so dark; and 4) it hadn't been so windy. Also, a few New Yorkers mentioned that the fall colors are not as brilliant this year because of the warm weather. I guess the extended summer has produced lackluster leaves, resulting in more of a "rusty" fall than in previous years when colors were more vibrant. Well, I still thought it was pretty incredible.

Additionally, I have been thinking a lot about accomplishments in this job. For those of you who've been reading all of my blogs pretty regularly, do you remember when I wrote extensively about feeling so "accomplished" after traveling by myself in Europe a few times? Well, multiply that feeling by 10 and that's how I feel lately. It's funny, because the feeling of accomplishment is less intense than in Europe, but more pervasive. Not only do I feel so wonderful when I get to my destination all by myself, but I feel more adult-like, more capable, more trusting of myself and my decisions. I know that only good can come from this job!

Someone in Fishkill loves you! :)