Of Parenting and The Ethics of Flying, Part 2.

First let me begin by saying that our last night in Charlotte we caved to our desires and went back to Mac's to have the brisket, this time with Mac and Cheese and the Green Bean Casserole. It was freaking to die for, and yes, I have pictures. Since it was the last night we celebrated with a frosty beverage. I had a local pilsner, Captain James Jack.

which was alright, not really remarkable, but not bad either. Here's the Brisket. For those that need to know, this was Carolina Hickory Smoked Beef Brisket. It was dry rubbed and slow smoked for 12 hours, and finished on the grill with red BBQ Sauce. I'm still having dreams about it.

But now, to flying.

I thought that not much could be worse than the experience I had flying in, with a child kicking my seat. I was wrong. There's something I can't stand, and have no patience for: rude adults.

While checking in and getting our seats, Susan and I were lucky enough to be able to switch to exit and aisle seats. They didn't have that much extra space, but it was nice. We boarded pretty quickly and sat down, to find some woman just standing up on the row in front of hours, ostensibly waiting for the plane to finish boarding to try to change her seat; you see, her older children had been placed in the middle seats somewhere in the back (same row though), and her younger child was in the middle seat of the row ahead of me. She wanted to at least get someone to switch with one of her children, so that they could sit together, and so that she could seat in the aisle next to her child. Sensible enough, right? And understandably so. But standing on the person's seat is not really the way to go about asking someone to take a middle seat for you, but whatever. She gets the person to switch with her (after bothering the flight attendant, and just generally standing in the middle of the aisle, getting in the way of people that are boarding) and so Susan and I look at each other thinking, "Good, now that's over, let's sleep!"

But alas, it was not to be. Just then, a "gentleman" comes over and seats on the other aisle seat, buckles himself, and then proceeds to have a conversation with the man sitting by the window - two seats and an aisle away from him. I don't know if I'll be able to explain this just with words. I want to draw y'all a diagram. Suffice it to say, that in order to be heard the men were loud, and annoying. Eventually the mom asks, in a not unfriendly tone if they plan to have a conversation over her the entire flight. The man's response? "You see that man? He's a sports news anchor at (enter small NY TV station) and I'm his producer. We were here covering the Giants/Panthers game."

I really wanted the woman to say "so the fuck what?" because after all, the freaking game is not even in Season yet, and this is a small TV news station. The game was last night. The hell. But instead, the woman feigns some interest, and what proceeds is the weirdest instance of three way flirting while in front of a child that I've ever seen. The News Anchor flirted, the mom flirted, the producer guy flirted and they all did it - LOUDLY. Eventually, the mom started to pay attention to her kid and the producer and the News Anchor just resumed their conversation.

Here's where I was torn. Unlike with Sam, these people knew better. I mean, really? In a small enclosed space like that? I was about to chew my hands off, specially since I didn't have headphones with me. To boot, just as the last few stragglers come in, turns out the News Anchor guy put both his very small bags on the overhead, and the new person putting their luggage away had to ask him twice to at least take one of his bags out. Which, he promptly put back in, on top of the other person's luggage as soon as they went away. In any case, the talking went on for ages.

Eventually, the CHILD was the one that made them shut up, by keeping interrupting the News Anchor and the Producer, asking to see things out of the News Anchor window. And then the flirting resumed between News Anchor and Mom. At least though, their voices were not as loud and annoying as the producers.

To say: I clearly hold more patience for children than for adults. But also, why not be courteous of others? Every time they talked I'd say "seriously, whatever you're discussing is not life and death, wait til we land!" But couldn't bring myself to say so, and eventually didn't really need to. But even 15 minutes of having to listen to them made the flight longer. Alas, next time, I will not forget the all important headphones.

Diners and Dives

Sometimes Dinner calls for breakfast. After a 10 hour workday, we walked to Philadelphia Deli, to have some chow. The place is in a very old shack looking structure, where the tables look like they've been there 20 years and the chairs and booths 30 at the very least.

Our waiter greeted us by calling us Dear every other second, and looked like she should've retired a good 15 years ago. She was quite lively and spry. I chose to have me a sausage and cheese omelette with potatoes and toast.

It was quite tasty and I devoured everything in sight. After the waiter found out that we were from out of town, she came over to make sure she knew where we were from and our business in town, before insisting we had some of the pecan pie before we left. I didn't want to be rude, so I said yes. She added some ice cream:

I kept thinking of When Harry Met Sally. Pe-CAHN Pie! Susan and I left nothing behind.

Afterwards, Susan and I decided that a movie was needed, because we needed to dispel the last dregs of the very long day. I didn't tell her I had seen Bridesmaids already, so we watched that. It was kind of weird and funny, because we laughed a whole lot more than anyone else in the theater (being Friday night, the small place was chock full of couples and a couple of female friends.) Not sure why - they laughed the most at the bathroom humor in the midst of the film, but I still find that opening scene beyond hilarious.

The dangers of listening

Our first day of Listening in Charlotte, North Carolina. We're working at a Children's hospital for the next three days and a lot of the stories we've heard so far have had to do with parents losing their children, or young children coming over to talk about what it's like being a patient.

I have not been professionally prepared for this. Every time I work I realize that I am not a trained psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker. I'm just a regular ole person with Degrees in English and Writing and I'm not sure I know how to handle all of this information.

Today, I've chosen to be as detached as possible. You can't be detached during the conversation, of course, because you need to be present when people are sharing their stories. But how to handle all of the stuff I'm taking in?

After work, I wanted to handle it by going to get fried Chicken, but Susan didn't want to do any meat after the fest that was Mac's. We ended up making our way to Beijing Chinese Restaurant so that we could gorge on Tofu.

Had some fried veggie dumplings to begin with.

As my main course: Ma Po Tofu with white rice.

Not the best Chinese I've ever had, of course, and I know some of you will be like "really, Chinese food in North Carolina?" but it fed the hunger, and the Tofu did feel good after all that meat.

To finish, my cookie fortune

which marked not only the very first "fortune telling" I've ever received from a fortune cookie, but also the first time I actually read the word fortune in one, so I was very fortunate and happy.

Last but not least, blurry pic of downtown Charlotte building

Charlotte, North Carolina

Last Post before I head to work!

Arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, yesterday afternoon. Susan and I had one goal: Barbecue. Our work contact hooked us up with a place, so we knew where to go right away: Mac's Speed Boat or something crazy like that. There are three of them in Charlotte, just search for Mac's. It's ostensibly, a biker restaurant, with an area outside specifically for bikers to park. The regular car folk have to make do with a dirt hill.

On our way to Mac's we asked our hotel receptionist if she knew anything about Mac's. Even though the place was 5 minutes away she said she had never heard of it (My pronunciation may have had something to do with that) and recommended we go someplace else. My co-worker and I wondered about that until we got to the place. Once we in, including the two of us, we realized there were only 4 people of color that we could see. I don't know why I'm always aware of when I'm in the minority - everyone there was super nice to us, with our waiter calling Susan and I baby, and no one doing any of those Hollywood double takes that are supposed to happen when you enter a place you're not welcome in. But Susan was aware too before I mentioned it, so I know I'm not alone in this. We wondered if it had more to do with socio-economic statuses in Charlotte, since Mac's was recommended by a hospital worker, and because the food was in the pricey side (although not NY price.) Regardless, I would be curious to go to a "cheaper" place and see if the atmosphere would be different or the bbq would taste different. But don't let this bit of wondering stop you: this had to be some of the best Barbecue I've had in my LIFE.

First, instead of bread they brought us Hush Puppies. Coors Light cans were on special, so I had me one, too.

Oh, they were tasty. After, I wondered about getting a Brisket Sandwich. The waiter babied me until I gave in and got the full Beef Brisket Plate, with Mac and Cheese, and Collard Greens.

Oh my God, I ate til I couldn't eat anymore. The Mac and Cheese was to die for. The Collard Greens were a little sweet, but still good. The Brisket... oh Sweet Jesus, the Brisket. Sigh, the Brisket. YUM.

If you're ever in this part of town, make a beeline for Mac's. We finished the night by listening to the Parody Kings.

A great way to end the day.


Walked 2.20 miles in 31 minutes at 6:00pm