Then Again, Maybe Not

We had lunch at Saul's in Berkeley. [note to self: don't forget there is still half a tuna sandwich in the fridge.] No sign of free parking. Maybe I have been away too long.

We briefly stopped in the Papyrus next door (meter running). It was odd, it seemed like everyone who was checking out, was buying a single card and paying cash. The cashier must have said "out of five" at least five times in the few minutes we were in the store.

After lunch we headed over to BayStreet to meet up with some of B's friends from one of his on-line lists. They called in the early afternoon to say that they were going to be in town to go to SFO (they live in Davis). There were these two ninnies "directing" traffic. I think my tolerance for stupidity is wearing thin.

To start with, I had wanted to park in the lot nearest to the B&N, since that was where we were going to meet. The one ninny stands in the middle of the intersection so I can't go straight and directs me to go left. I suppose I should back up and explain that BayStreet is a most unusual shopping center in that it is literally a block and a half of stores. You can park in front of the shops for free, but it costs one dollar to park in the lot (this is their grand opening special and soon to change, I'm sure). The other thing is that because they are still a work in progress the fumes are overwhelming. I swear I get a bit of a buzz, which could explain what happened next.

When we got back to said intersection (now as pedestrians), the other ninny tells us to go, as the other one is directing southbound traffic to turn left and essentially kill the people in the crosswalk. He quickly stops us before anyone is hurt.

It wouldn't have been so bad, but ninny number one keeps directing the southbound traffic to turn left when the car either didn't want to go, or wasn't close enough to the intersection. There are now more people than cars at the intersection. At that point I just went for it. Which is so unlike me. Ninny number one of course told me I was the one holding up traffic. I resisted the urge to argue the point. We were now late.

Thankfully it didn't spoil the rest of the afternoon. We found a table outside and got some warm drinks from B&N. It was actually fun. It is always a bit nerve-wracking meeting people I know little, if anything about (especially when the other person in my party has never met them either).

We gave them one of our change of address cards. They both laughed when they saw the line about "Pacific Bell/SBC's excellent customer service." They have had some interesting experiences trying to set up residence as foreigners in a post-911 world. Although in the case of SBC I don't think being from another country had anything to do with. SBC is non-descriminating in how they treat their customers.

Maybe their should be a web site? It would be huge.