poops, giggles and huh?

Jonathan scurried as closely to the wall as possible. The floor was sticky from spilled cokes, dirty shoes, and who knew what else. Jonathan wished there were a better way to get to his nest on the west side of the New York City Port Authority Bus Terminal, but this was the quickest way.

Don’t these people ever go to sleep? he thought. It was already twelve thirty at night and there were still people rushing to catch their busses. Jonathan had learned that people, especially old ladies, screamed or tried to stomp on him if they saw him. So he tried to keep his little gray body as hidden as possible by only moving when he thought people weren’t looking down at the floor.

He looked up at a clock hanging from the ceiling. He’d promised Martha that he would be back for their late night supper by twelve thirty five. he quickened his pace.

"Bus one fifty eight now boarding from gate number three oh one," boomed a man’s voice from the loud speaker. The voice startled Jonathan and he jumped just a little bit.

"Eeeee! A mouse!" screamed a rather large woman in a flowered dress. She turned to run away from Jonathan and instead smacked into a short man next to her.

"Oof," the man said as they went down in a heap. "Hey, get off of me!" the man’s muffled voice cried.

"Coming through, coming through," a young man with a tie ran toward gate three hundred and one trying to catch his bus. Unfortunately, he didn’t see the large woman struggling to get off of the short man.

"Aagh!" he yelled as he tripped over them and landed on the floor.

Jonathan took a good look to make sure they wouldn’t stomp on him. Then he scurried around the three fallen travellers as other ladies screamed and tried to run from him.

It would be so easy. All I’d have to do would be to apply for a few postions or post my resume on ESL Cafe. Within a few days or a week, I’d have job offers and emails asking me for interviews. Just like that, I could hop on a plane and move back to China. I could go to almost any city I chose and have enough money to live and a little left over to save. I might choose to stay in a city I’d lived in before so that I would be in a familiar place with people I know. I might choose to teach in a high school, middle schoo, or primary school. I might decide to go to a brand new city; a city that I’d never visited before. This way, I could start a new adventure.

I could be there in a month and be dining on my favorite chinese foods and hearing the familiar sounds of the song like Chinese dialects. I could do all this. I could move back there so easily. Yet, I keep myself from posting my resume or sending it to any schools. I don’t do any of this because I am in the middle of investing for my future. I’m investing by trying to set temporary roots in new Jersey/New York. I don’t do this because if I do, I’ll be taking the easy way out and I’ll probably always be an ESL Teacher. I don’t do this because although I loved teaching, I kept wondering if I could make it in another profession. I don’t do this because…I shouldn’t, I can’t…live in the past.
I’m here now. But maybe someday again…

It’s 1:25 am. I got home from work almost an hour ago. Yes, I know it’s late. I worked from noon till midnight today. I can’t seem to get myself to go to bed right after I get home though. I’m tired, but I just don’t want to walk in the door and go straight to bed. So instead, I watch tv, check up on backetball scores on the internet, and snack on Triscuits; The Triscuits were on sale for $2.50 for a family size box.

Yesterday, I surprised Susan. It was her birthday and I’d been telling her that I was just going to cook for her but that I didn’t want to do anything really special for her birthday because I was trying to save money. She was disappointed but was a good sport. However, I sneakily planned a little surpise dinner and party for her at the Magic Pot, a fondue place down the street from me. When I took her down there, she was surprised that I was taking her to a restaurant but pretty happy. When she saw her friends there, she was so happy that she couldn’t stop grinning. It was a good time. I’ve never been to a fondue restaurant before.

Later, we all went to a karaoke place and had cake and drank some wine. Then we saw this old Korean guy out in the parking lot who was so wasted that he couldn’t walk! But that’s a different story and I think I’m ready to go to bed now.

Working crazy hours can make you neglect blogging. I’ve recently found this out. But enough about work. Just because I work 50 hours a week and don’t get home until after midnight, is that a reason to complain and whine? NO!! So I’m only going to whine to myself. Not on my blog.

Anyway, I was on the subway yesterday. I walked into the car and the doors closed behind me. As soon as they did, I knew I’d made a mistake. Most of the people in that car were crammed together on one side of the car. Just as I was trying to figure out why they were all bunched up over there instead of spreading out, the stench hit me. A small, peanut looking man was the source. He smelled like he’d been rolling around in dirty diapers for a few months at least. And, as I was just wishing I’d chosen a different car to ride in, he began to pee his pants. I knew because of the rapidly growing puddle beneath him. It was gross, funny, sad, and intriguing all at the same time. Like a bunch of rubber neckers, all the passengers’ eyes were glued to the puddle.

I knew they were probably nudging each other and making bets on how much of the floor it was going to cover. Anyway, the story would probably be more interesting if I had stayed on the car, but I didn’t. I moved to a different car at the next stop.

Good night. I’m tired.