Fools At The Gate

I hit the ground running....

I get up and send out emails, pack up and hit the streets. I'm in motion without moving. I'm on the Way in no time, but because of my routine I take the train uptown instead of down. But that's fine by me. I get off at 14th Street, Union Square, and snag the 5 Train, heading back down through Manhattan and into Brooklyn, getting off at Nevins Street.

The day was cold. The crazy tilt of our weather here has lurched one more step to Winter. The day is cold and the wind makes it colder. But I dressed in my heavy coat today, and did I pay for it dearly. I have two coats. Well, I have jackets, hoodies, and a coat. The jackets are for cool weather, the coat is for blizzard conditions. There is no in between. Which means, that even though it was cold, I was walking about with my coat thrown open and gasping for air as I overheated within it. If I would have put on the jacket, I would have been freezing.

I walked to Duffield street and when I got to the ancient building I found a dozen people crowded into its vestibule to escape the cold wind. I asked how long before the building opened, and was told 8:30AM, which was an hour from now. Great. There was no way that I could fit in the vestibule, so I headed to a nearby diner and ordered a coffee, a muffin and a seat. I sat and read from my new book until time melted and it was time for me to head for the biggest zoo on Earth. The Social Services of New York.

I head to the building once again to find a line coming from the vestibule and heading down the block. Fuck. This was not going to be good at all. I got on the end of the line and waited, still reading. The howling wind rushed up my pants and into my shirt, cooling me against the tremendous heat filling my coat. I was comfortable. Soon, within minutes, the line began its slow crawl into the building. I shuffled with the rest of the people, and as I entered the door, two young men skipped in front of me.

I remained silent, allowing them to pass, but the line behind me erupted. They complained about the two young men, and complained to me for letting them in. Then the young men began to shout back at the complainers, and there I was in the fucking middle.

You probably don't see my logic in this. I"ll explain. I couldn't give a fuck about them skipping the line, simply because once you get inside this tomb of a building there are a million lines that you are then subjected to. The chances of them being on my line once inside was slim to none. Secondly, I wanted desperately to get in and out of the fucking place. It's full of lunatics, such as the very people on the line, who are already in a troglodyte mindset. It's a building full of the insane, and I wanted no part of it. Not even this line to get into the building. But it was something that I had to do.

With this being said, and just my luck, I'm subjected to this near war raging around me, just because I let these two fools slip ahead of me. Bad judgement, I see, but damn did I believe that I could get away with murder. Regretting my decision I followed as the line entered the building and we went through this sorry assed checkpoint. With a, probably for show alone, metal detector between us and entry, along with sloppy, self absorbed guards and a detection wand that doesn't even whoop when it DOESN'T find anything. They should put batteries in the damn thing. They aren't fooling anyone.

The moment I got into the building, as I thought, the clowns jumped in an elevator for the lines upstairs. I and a number of the people on the line behind me, found more lines to climb into. The madness past, I was free to stand in yet another cue of people.

To show you just how stupid this can be. A woman behind me, thank the maker, asks the woman directly behind me to hold her 'spot'. She was standing behind her on the line. Then, she gets on another line next to us. The line moves swiftly, and I make it quickly to the window and ask for my budget letter.

Just then a young man came behind the woman behind me and took his rightful place on line. The woman on the other line, informed him that she was behind the woman ahead of him. "I had already talked to her and I'm behind her," she said.

"What?" The man was flabbergasted. "I don't know about all that, but I see you on that line over there. Not over here."
"No I'm in front of you," she replied defensively.
"Oh no you're not. You're over there."
"I already talked to her. I'm behind her."
"How can you be in two places at once? What are you talking about?"
"Because I have to be in this line AND that line."
"Well you're only one person so you'll have to make a choice."

It's funny to me, but this is the asshole logic of the place. They are all nuts here. Completely nuts. I get my budget letter and I'm out of there. I literally run from the building to escape its gross stupidity. When I hit the fresh air it was like coming out into a brand new day. Amazing. I had escaped the Pit Of Doom.

I stagger woodenly. I have much more to do and no time to jump for joy.

I head for the Way.

Hobobob