RO

When we were walking around Royal Oak before dinner on Saturday we saw this guy riding around on his Segway. It makes me wonder if he lives in dowtown Royal Oak and was just out for a spin, or if he brought his segway from somewhere else specifically to ride around RO. Either way there is no shortage of characters there, and sometimes I miss hanging at Brazil drinking coffee all day (well, after I woke up at 11), like I did when I couldn't find a job, back in 2000.

I had just finished a 9-month internship at GM, and I was sending out resumes all over the place. Even though there were tons of articles at the time about how great the economy was and how easy it was for new graduates to find work, I was hitting wall after wall. It was great to read constantly about kids getting signing bonuses and BMW Z3's as incentives to go to work for tech companies, when I was trying to figure out if I needed to apply at the cigar store to not have to move back to my parents house.

While I was waiting for something to break, I would go over to Brazil or Cafe de Marquis and I would read the paper, drink coffee, smoke, and talk to people. It was great. I was never bored, and I became very adept at getting a quarter in the meter just in time.

Something broke open for me though, like things tend to, and I have been working full time for the last five years. Brazil has been closed for a while. The people I used to hang out with have been widely dispersed, and sometimes you just have an experience that is unique to its time and place. I wonder why this guy made me think of that. Funny what can trigger a memory.