2006-10-10 - 6:07 a.m.
The last weekend in September Nya and I went to Washington, DC, for a wedding. We stayed with Nya�s father, who lives in Bethesda, MD. Although really, two nights out of the three, we ended up staying in hotels for various reasons I�ll get to. It was quite a trip to see Nya�s father again after sixteen years (our most memorable latter-day encounter was a sad and touching one in a school bathroom during a play about a year after Nya and I stopped seeing each other, but he can tell that story much better than I can). We also saw a good friend of mine from the RUE program at Brown and J., who I also haven�t seen much for sixteen years.
We had made plans to go to dinner with J. and her new fianc� (!) Thursday night after we landed at Baltimore-Washington. Unfortunately, there was really bad weather in the capitol area and our flight was delayed for five hours. During this time we were stuck in the plane, sitting on the tarmac. It was interminable bordering on hellish. They couldn�t even roll out the drinks cart to provide much-needed intoxication. When we finally got to BWI, it was well after 11PM. We were completely exhausted and sour. Fortunately, J. had noted the bad weather and tracked our flight�s (non)progress online. She met us at the airport when we landed. It was so relieving to see a friendly face.
She�s newly blonde and we admired the way it looks. We met her new fianc� and found out about how they met (online of course; it�s the modern way). He�s a Washington-area native, but I don�t think I found out what he does professionally. We did hear their romantic proposal story. He took her on vacation to Greece and presented the ring on a beautiful Mediterranean island. Rivals how I proposed. I also got an update on her family (her younger brother also lives in DC and heads WakeUpWalmart.com). It was awesome to see her. She once brought up a very good point. After so many years, an �ex� can be not so much an ex as an old friend.
Nya and I decided it seemed just too late to bother her dad (who had to work in the morning after all) to stay at his house, so we asked J. to take us to a hotel. (I�d like to note that I texted our plans to her dad�s cell phone, but, unbeknownst to us, he apparently doesn�t have text messaging and stayed up worrying�) She brought us to a place in Silver Spring, MD (an �edge city� if ever there was). Checking in, I balked when the middle-aged Japanese front desk guy quoted us the room rate. Not that we could go elsewhere, having been dropped off in the middle of car-world, but still. It seemed outrageous.
�Look, that seems a bit high��
He peered at me in my chair and frowned. Perhaps there was a bit of crip sympathy here, a phenomenon I�ve become familiar with (even though the unexpected kindness of strangers is still always surprising to my Brooklyn-raised mindset) and can be quite helpful.
�Ah you with the golfman?�
�I�m sorry?�
�We have discount for federal golfman employee��
I still wasn�t quite getting it. Fortunately, Nya picked up on what he was saying.
�Oh, the government!�
Hmm, I thought. We voted. Paid taxes. Of the people, for the people, by the people.
�Uhm. Yes?�
�Very good.�
He nodded and presented me with a rate almost $100 lower. Good deal. Sometimes being a gimp has its advantages. He even found us a wheelchair-accessible room. We fell to sleep immediately on the huge, comfy bed.
� 2006 Geoff Gladstone
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