Probably no need to tell you this if you've been reading these posts lately, but I overslept again. This time it was about 7:30 a.m. when I finally got my lazy ass out of the tent and packed everything up. It was quite light at this point and cars could see me if they looked. But, apparently they didn't. I walked out onto the street, vowing to get a spot that was deeper into the woods this night. If I just couldn't help sleeping late, I might as well be out of sight.
Walking down to the area where I've been hanging lately, I decided to go to another coffee shop I had been to a couple of evenings before for a hot chocolate, called Central Coffee Co. (named for being on Central Avenue). On this morning I was ready for coffee. I bought their dark roast and found a table at which to work. Here is the construction on the other side of the street...
Look at all those doors! Balconies yet to be added.
When I'd gone here before, the barista was very sweet and friendly. There was not a hint of the backpack prejudice. But on this morning the gentleman who took my order seemed a bit dismissive. I just don't understand it. In my mind I said: I give you my money and you treat me like an afterthought. Well, after some time of listening to him serve other people, I noticed that the only ones he was very friendly with were the regulars, as he called them by name. Sometimes that's what it takes with these coffee shops--repeat patronage. It's clubby or cliquey in that way. That doesn't bother me.
I'd been in town for nearly a week and had found it challenging to work all day in one spot. I was familiar with Charlotte at this point. Unfortunately, I had not felt any kind of social warmth here. Yes, of course it could just be me. I am happy to say that unlike my tour down the states on the east side of the Mississippi, I have not been begged a single time. Still, that busy robotic culture I'd seen so much of in New England seems to be functioning here as well.
If I were to live here - like a "normal" person - I'm sure I would make friends, and fit into the scene. But as it is, and as I am (my appearance?), the glass walls keeping me outside the culture (whether psychologically erected by me or not) seemed to be there and they weren't going away. This has happened before. I'm too invisible to have worn out my welcome, so I think I just need a more friendly environment. It is why I tend to stay away from cities now. There will be others, and maybe I will feel closer to the people there. The desire to leave was growing.
I want to also mention that if there is one thing I can't help dealing with but has gotten really, really old, it is the car culture. I've mentioned aspects of this many times. And, I'm sure the readers of this blog are not surprised that I would mention it again. That no one walks and that drivers are so aggressive and in such a rush all the time, appears bizarre to a permanent pedestrian such as myself. It just looks silly and stupid; little children driving on an asphalt auto playground. Their beeping and screeching to a stop, trying to swerve around each other, running lights and--my pet peeve, not paying attention to walk lights, is so childish as to be infantile.
For 99.999% of human history, people walked. This entitlement of driving everywhere one needs to go, even if it is just around the block, seems truly insane to me. But since I am now on the other side of the ratio, being the 0.001% who still walks everywhere I go, I should just adapt, right? I should simply understand that it is not a world of natural transit anymore--at least on the East Coast. We must be encased in glass, plastic and steel to go anywhere. Extra frustration attends my concern, because I know you (who drive as I've described) really don't care. I don't blame you either. I was that way before I began walking. I was gonna drive my goddamned car anywhere I wanted even if it was to get from the front yard to the back yard. That's why I had it--duh!
People complaining about pollution, the squandering of fossil fuels, blah, blah, blah...could just kiss my ass. I had a car, and a valid license, and the money to waste on gas. I was going to enjoy every second of the automobile experience while I could. That was my unspoken right as an American. Hell, everyone else does it, why shouldn't I? In fact, not doing it (driving every single place I had to go) would be seen by other people as antisocial, suspect, and illogical.
But we need to realize just how weird it all really is--the driving culture. There is a whole world of interesting things to do and see that are impossible to even know about, when traveling at 65 mph. How could I ever convince people of this? It is literally impossible. It just sounds like a quaint notion; not really worth investigating. Why would you waste your time, and look like an idiot by trying to live without constantly driving? I have a strong intuition that this will not always be the case. At some point there will be less reason to drive. And everyone will be surprised at just how much richer is the world around them when it can be experienced and not just driven by. Anyway, I get the feeling I'm just talking to noone when it comes to questioning the assumptions of the mobile masses. So, whatever...
I also admit to being very sensitive to how I'm treated by businesses. I've had quite a lot of experience now. I can tell whether I'm overreacting or not--though sometimes it is only after the encounter. Often I will write about these things, but not go into detail about why I react as I do. Someone defended the gentleman at the Dollar General (written about in the last post), claiming he was just doing his job, and I shouldn't blame him for it. What I didn't write about was that as I was walking out, he laughed at me and said he didn't need my business anyway. If he hadn't belittled me, I probably wouldn't have even left an account. Just following orders, rules, store policy, does not entitle a person to shit on another person. And we might recall that the Nazis used that little excuse of following orders.
The hour approached for the library to open, so I departed and walked over to it...
The White Rabbit. This is an "LGBT bookstore" according to Google.
Apparently though (according to reviews), it is not very popular anymore and is mostly
for "boys." There are a lot of these fully painted buildings around.
In a couple days I would take more pictures of the businesses in the area.
I worked to get my post published for the day, then before sundown left to try for an early entrance into the sleep spot...
When I arrived back in the area of the sleep spot, I realized just how light it was still and how busy was the road. I just couldn't bring myself to go into the woods yet...
Here is the sign across from where I enter.
Looking back down the road.
A roadside view of the sleep spot.
I walked back down the street to kill about fifteen minutes, taking a couple shots of the city buildings in the distance as they began to light up...
The Duke Energy building. Usually it has blue lights, on this night they were red.
(Second tallest building in Charlotte.)
The pointed building on the left is Bank of America's Corporate Center.
(First tallest building in Charlotte.)
The building on the right is the Hearst Tower. I like this one because
it is large on top and counterintuitively tapers inward at the bottom.
(Third tallest building in Charlotte.)
When I returned it was sufficiently dark to cross the street and get up into the woods. I didn't have the energy to look for and excavate a new spot, so I set up in the same place...
It wasn't as cold on this night, so I did much thinking outside the tent. I would just climb in and hang out, but it is not comfortable to sit in there. I always end up lying down, which is not easy to do without just falling asleep. Eventually, I did get tired and climbed in to sleep. The hour was earlier so I thought I might wake up earlier. I discovered that it didn't really matter.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.