There's no place like home. Though, I'm not really sure where my actual "home" is at present moment, I'm still trying to feel out a variety of options. Whatever, I guess wherever I'm ending up is wherever the boy decides to accept a position when his time is up at Sacramento State. (Yeah it's already been talked about... lay off me!)
Anyways, I'm positive I don't belong in Stockton. Let me recap some of my adventures in Hick-land:
I don't think I ever posted this story, but my friend Brian and I were in search of pancake or Bisquick mix after a night out at bars earlier this month. Needless to say, it was past 2 a.m. and Safeway was closed. So the next logical decision was to head out to Denny's and just buy some pre-made pancakes, eat ours in the restaurant and then take some back for his rommates. While we originally set out for a 10-minute grocery run to go home and make breakfast, we ended up with so much more than we bargained for.
While standing in line at the hostess booth, we noticed a few people sitting up front started getting in a massive yelling argument. It was what looked like an extremely made-up gothic-esque girl screaming at some skinny white boys. Well, one thing led to another and it escalated fairly quickly. All of a sudden about six people get into this massive tangle and begin smashing plates and cups on each other, throwing fists around.
I started freaking out and Brian calmly pushed me into the dining room and around the corner from the scuffle going on in the main entry-way. The only thought that continually ran through my head was, "Please, God, don't let anyone pull out a gun." The fight finally made its way outside into the rain, and no joke, one of the guys literally knocked a girl on the face and the force of the punch threw her to the ground. Then more guys start running at each other and everyone in Denny's pushes up towards the windows to cheer and as one woman stood up and complained about them, "cheering and act more ghetto than the kids fighting out there." I guess she had a point, but I think I started shaking at that point. Brian worried about someone puling out a gun too, so he grabbed my hand and pulled me back into the kitchen towards the farthest dining area from the fight.
Never once did it cross my mind to take out my phone and call the police. But someone finally did, and they came out and arrested all of the guys, not once questioning a single person in the restaurant. The people arrested were Mexican and black and I was actually pretty appalled they never stopped to question witnesses and automatically arrested them. Some of the guys were legitimately defending themselves and the "women" involved, but I still wouldn't condone it.
About 15 mins after it all died down, we finally felt brave enough to go past the scene of the fight and run through the parking lot to his car. And we finally got pancakes, which seemed really trivial after all we just saw, at about 3 a.m.
So with that for some background as to what kind of city I'm living in.... I got more of it today and guess who else was involved? That's right, Brian. He, our other friend Julian and I all decided we wanted to go out to the mall and get some Baja Fresh during our lunch break.
After we got our lunch to go, a homeless looking black man was walking around with a really sad looking girl, who looked so down on her luck and in life, I couldn't exactly tell if she was his lady-friend or daughter. Her face looked haggard, old and dirty, but she was smaller and dressed like a little girl, with a tiny school backpack.
The guy starts chatting Brian up as we're getting into the car, saying we look like a group who has money. He complimented Julian on his style, then told me I looked beautiful. Julian and I laughed nervously, but closed our doors as the man was over on Brian's driver side with a squeegee in his hand, hoping for compensation to wash his windshield. Brian kept trying to push him away, saying we were in a rush and had to get back to work, but the guy kept begging with his hand in the doorway. Finally, Brian reached into the console and handed him a fist full of change, saying "Sorry man, this is all I've got on me." I later found out it was less than 10 cents.
And then tonight, I made a run to Wal-Mart to pick up some things J.D. had confiscated on the plane tonight. Hopefully he'll get in at a decent hour tonight so I can give those to him!
But as I was checking out at the line, I was surrounded by some more really sad looking people. A really white trash couple was standing at the line next to me and the woman was extremely pregnant and definitely under the age of 20. Her boyfriend (I'm assuming, maybe husband?) had his hands on her shoulder and then turned around to start unloading the cart onto the counter. As he turned around, he saw me standing behind them and started blatantly staring at me. He kept turning around in front of her looking at me and I felt super awkward.
So that's my life here in Stockton. I'm still trying to figure it out. I think for the most part it's a big enough city and there's a lot to do and I do have fun. But weird shit like this keeps happening randomly.
If nothing else, it makes for interesting stories and conversation I guess...
...in case you're worried, I'm still shaving my armpits by the way!!!
