Just Like Old Times

Man, I have to make this quick, I have an appointment at 10.

One thing I forgot to tell you all about was the weird mishap at the Home Depot on Saturday. I have a machete I purchased from the flea market years ago and it's about that time to get it sharpened. Someone told me that Home Depot does that kind of thing. Hmmmm....ok. So I take my machete over to Home Depot all happy-go-lucky
La-la-LA
La-la-LA
(machete in sheath dangling around my belt)
La-la-LA
La-la-La
(white man looks at me, goes around 4 cars to keep some distance)
La-la-LA
La-la-LA
(latino woman whispers something to her chubby son and picks up the pace to her car)
La-la-LA
La....la.....hold up.

Shit. I forgot I was black.

So I SLOWLY take the machete sheath off of my belt and ask the men at working in the tool rental area "Excuse me, do y'all sharpen blades."
"Uh....RICK! We sharpen these, man?" he shouted down the aisle.
"Uh....damn! Naw man," changing the bass and tone in his voice. "We don't mess with those. You gonna have to take that someplace else."
"Hmm. Alright y'all. Thanks." and walked out.

So what's just like old times? Hanging out with WhatAboutMe. Uh oh.....time to go....I'll tell y'all what happened soon as I get back. Don't hold your breath, it ain't that juicy.


9:53 a.m.

Ok, I'm back. I was looking my 1st describing WhatAboutMe, but I can't find it. Basically its an inside joke that you can tell her some serious problem that's going on, and somehow the subject gets back to her. Like "My dog has fleas and now they are infesting the entire house."
She would say something like "Oh. Did I tell you I got a promotion 2 months ago?"

Hehhehe... cracks me up. So she and I are IM'ing each other back and forth last night and decided to meet at one of the last havens for the REAL U St. Anyone familiar with DC knows that this area used to be a stronghold for cool black folks. Then it became a spot for cool people. Then some developers got the idea to convert some of the old buildings into condos, Starbucks, Thai restaurants, a RACK of Ethiopian restaurants, and how can you leave out the tanning salon? That's right...a tanning salon in the heart of U ST!!! The area where go-go took a back street to hip hop. **sigh**

So she and I sat there and ate and drank. No, not at the soft-ass Thai spot, but we walked from one U St relic to another. A place where we call the Spot. Funny too, because we used to go there all the time and for like a year or so we didn't even know the name of the place. But it was fun; I got that old feeling of being somewhere I indubitably fit in. Not too yuppy, no too thuggish, not too soft. The tiny place is amazing. You go there and at one table (and this is how it is typically) you have your D.C. yuppies who are for some reason or another not even close to being shaken about hanging in the hood, another table you have some Ethiopian businessmen (well, frontin' like they're business men most of the time), me and WhatAboutMe, a kat that's from the neighborhood and ain't moving out for a damn reason, and the Howard U alumni that are usually grouped in 3's or 4's...


12:05 p.m.
Ok, now I can finish up this entry.
So, thats the Spot. And she and I talked about our respective lives and relationships. The usual. The only difference was that the environment that we had grown so found of was morphing before our very eyes. new signs going up, old signs going down. Boxes for shops that sold value-priced shoes packed for re-location. Next door, a man cleans the renovation dust off of the windows of a brand new French cafe housed with a high steel engraved bar with matching chairs and facade. There is a view to the grill as is typical of modern day cafes.
Evolution. And for a split second, I knew how the Native Americans felt.