Tuesday, February 19, 2002

"excess ain't rebellion"

well, i can again claim to be part of the american workforce. yesterday, i called yes! organic market to see if they would like to rehire me, and gary (the owner) was like, come in tomorrow, and so i did just that. waking up at six this morning to be at work a little before eight, since it takes about an hour to get there with the metro and all. i loved it, though. i heart yes, big time.

riding the metro in the morning is always so fun. i love being in big, annonymous crowds - looking at everyone, wondering where they are going to work, watching them sleep and yawn. waiting at l'enfant to transfer to the blue line, i sat on a bench. yawned. and the yawn is still going. i've been in a yawn since that metro yawn this morning. i was at that point far away from my bed, and so were all the other people around me waiting for the next train. but at that yawn, i snuggled in my jacket, so so wanting to just get back under my covers and snuggle. and i could see that everyone standing there wanted the same thing. i mean even the stuffy congressional staffers secretly yearned to snuggle under some covers, and to wrap their arms around someone, and resist the transition from sleep to awake. a blissful resistance that is perhaps the best feeling in the world. mmm. sleep covers sleep. mmm.

i thought about how wonderful it would be, if we could all just snuggle up together. you could spoon me. and i could tug on the covers, leaving your legs exposed to the world of awakeness. and you would tug back, trying with all your might to stay in slumberland - to keep your body sheltered from the awake world, by making sure that every inch of your body is under the covers. and we could sleep in. hit snooze multiple times and feel like we were little and loved, and that there was nothing at all wrong in the world. it could be so so good, but alas, no gigantic bed with covers to be found on this metro platform. and so we stood there, looking into the distance at the tracks, looking for the lights of the metro. trying to find someplace to direct our eyes - not wanting to make eye contact with one another and see that everyone else wanted to curl up in bed, too. we don't look, but imagine that everyone else is eager to be a busybee and go to work, and that our sleep urges need to be repressed. but, i looked at you and could see that you did want to curl back up in bed. i could see the nostalgia for sleep in your expression. but, you kept your eyes focused down the tracks. maybe next time, i will try to make eye contact. but more likely, maybe not. after all, we gots to get paid.

and the metro arrived, and in about ten minutes, i got off at the eastern market stop, feeling the wonderful comfort of routine. doing what i did just about every day over the summer. and it felt like i was returning home. pennsylvannia avenue looked beautiful in its slight grittiness. i glanced at all the different newspapers from all over sitting in the newspaper machines that circled the entrance/exit to the metro. and, ha, how many times will i read these top halves of newspapers in these same machines? will i ever actually buy one? or just continue to read the top half through the glass? how many times have i done this already? but, it's different everyday. new newspapers daily. the repetition of the act is counteracted by newspaper dudes switiching the newspapers bright and early in the morning before i arrive, so i have something new to look at each morning. they are little elves, toothfairies, and santas working in the middle of the night, while the good kids are asleep, leaving new newspapers under their pillow. and not even taking a tooth for it.

and i crossed penn ave, darting between cars, and seeing for the first time for the millionth time, the imposing dome of the capitol, just a few blocks away. the sun was still on its way up, and the capital was striped with hazy sunlight.

and then i walked into yes, and saw gary, and he was so nice, and i talked to him for a while. clocked in, talked to john, so happy to see even him, who usually i think is a big idiot. made my way to the front of the store, saw cho, and he gave me a big hug, and i was so glad he was still working there. we always joke with each other and make fun of each other, and he's so fun to work with. seeing many of the same customers who came in every day. i probably should have called yes right away after getting home, but i knew that gary would need me to work, and i think i was secretly resisting having to work, and had postponed calling them.

after work, i went out to springfield to get some labwork done at the doctor's. i had not eaten all day because i wasn't supposed to eat for twelve hours before i got the blood taken. i came home and no joke passed out in bed. woke up at eight something, still feeling tired and crappy. my body is so not used to actually working and waking up early. tomorrow i work from 2-9, and then straight from there, i am going to the le tigre show with rebecca. she really wanted to go, and i was like, sounds fun. so, hopefully it will be, and sadly i have never heard one le tigre song, and didn't cake say something about this:

"Now tickets to concerts and drinking at clubs, / Sometimes for music that you haven't even heard of. / And how much did you pay for your rock'n'roll t-shirt / That proves you were there, / That you heard of them first? / How do you afford your rock'n'roll lifestyle?"

No comments:

Post a Comment