quality of life

You know the longer I live here the more and more that happens that really does make living here the beautiful life.  Last night I went to bed knowing I was going to have to go to the GA Ave shell station to put air in my tire that has a slow leak. This really made my morning suck when I was cold and tired and just wanted to get in my car and go to work instead of driving down to a gas station where I would probably be harassed for money I don’t even have by someone wearing nicer shoes than I do.

Well I get down there and I’m sitting in front of the air machine searching for any quarters anywhere with no luck when a mini van pulls behind me and honks.  I lean out of my door to point to the air and she nods like “oh yeah, you need air too”, but since I don’t have money yet I pulled up enough so she could go ahead of me.  I got out and went to the ATM which I knew was going to charge me an arm and a leg, which it did, but I did not know it was also going to reek of piss as well.  I got my money and then went inside the little mini mart to get some change, the guy refused to give me more than a dollars worth of quarters even though I did ask nicely.  He said that .75 cents was enough to fill all the problems I had, I wasn’t sure I was convinced since I have never filled my own tires with air before.

A little annoyed and still cold and tired I walked outside to find that the woman was now filling my tire with air.  I couldn’t believe how lucky I was that some random stranger was helping me out.  I started thanking her profusely and she just smiled and said that there was no point in wasting the air that she didn’t need and that “us women had to stick together and help each other out”.  She really made my day and turned what was going to be a sour attitude for most of the morning into a much lighter and brighter morning.

A reader writes:

“So, we read and hear all the time about all the down sides to our neighborhoods – the crime, the racism, crack houses next door. What we don’t always hear about are the really great things about living in our area of the city. I had an experience in Columbia Heights that is a good example – and perhaps we could hear what other people have experienced?

I was at the Giant in Columbia Heights, rushing to get food and props for a baby shower I was hosting the next morning. I’d been out of town and crazy busy with work, so I was super stressed out. I got my groceries and got in the elevator to go to my car, when I realized that I’d forgotten to get my parking validated. There was a young guy in the elevator with me – maybe late 20’s – and he noticed my “I’m so tired and stressed I want to cry” state. He offered to give me his validated ticket and go back and get mine done. My first reaction was that this was a scam – he’d probably been there 48 hours or something and wanted my ticket so his parking would be free. I resisted. He then offered to go down and get my ticket stamped and bring it up to me, so I could unload my groceries. I was still wary, but gave in. He brought the ticket back to me just as I finished loading the car and the whole way to the street I kept thinking “this better not be a scam.” But it wasn’t – he really had just taken the extra time on a perfectly good Friday night to go get my ticket validated for me. That sort of thing never happened to me west of the park where everyone was too concerned about themselves – so that is one of the many reasons I love life in PoPdom.”

The beautiful life can be experienced at the most unexpected times. Not exactly the same but my favorite experience was when I was told to put some glide in my stride. Do you think these experiences are more common east of the park? What’s been your favorite encounter with the beautiful life?

I was dismayed to receive the following note from a very good friend of mine:

“Yesterday my fiancée and I walked out of Whole Foods with our arms around each other, and when we stopped at the intersection of 15th and P to wait for the light to change, I kissed her cheek. Behind us, a man commently loudly, “you shouldn’t do that in public.” Upon turning around to gauge whether he was serious or joking, the woman with him laughed and said “he’s just jealous.” As we started to walk across the street, we heard the same voice, this time with unmistakable disgust say, “you’re a waste of two good women.”

This is not the first time a passerby has felt it was his right (thus far, comments have only come from men) to insult us because we are two women walking hand-in-hand, yet every time it happens, it catches me off guard. My initial reaction has always been that the person must be joking or that I must not have heard him correctly.

By the time we got home I was holding back tears – tears of hurt, yes, but also of frustration that I hadn’t realized he was serious earlier than I did and that I hadn’t had a witty comeback to throw at him so that he might have left that corner the one who was embarrassed.

So my question to the PoP readers is: What would you have said in this situation (if you were me, or one of the 5 or 6 other people also waiting on that corner)? Has a similar situation ever happened to you?”