#who even gave him that cigarette he went to 7/11 and asked for newports and the cashier was just like Ok :) | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

a-day-in-the-life-of-a-brotha · 3 years

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4-26-21 My Father’s Birthday

4:00 a.m.- I started my day by hitting the snooze button on my phone, at least 3 times. I normally wake up at 4 a.m. via my job schedule starting at 6a.m. AND i like to meditate (breathe Larry breathe) AND I don’t like to rush with being on time to work. Immediately after my shower (s**t, shave, shower is my order) the phone rings...”What up babes” is how I answer...it’s Dani...my Love. I can’t say she’s my new Love (it’s only been a few weeks of knowing her), I’ve known her for thousands of years.

4:30 a.m.- Playful banter with Dani...”How’d you sleep?”, “Did you dream?”...sweet nothings, and affirmations spoken. We start our mornings with relaying two good things about our lives, before we talk about the complaints of life.

5:20 a.m.- I’m at 7-11. Dani is still on the phone, attached to my ears via the corded earphones I keep (them airpods I had stopped working).

Frustration #1; The early morning cashier. I get Newport 100 box EVERYDAY from the same 7-11, and usually the same cashier. Everyday I ask for “Newport 100 box please.” And everyday he ask “Which ones?” I repeat myself as he goes to stand where the jacks (cigarettes in DC vernacular) are and, points to the ones he thinks I want. “No...no...no...to the left...YES!” This occurs daily. I even went off one day saying “I come in here EVERY morning and I get the SAME thing!” To no avail....

6 a.m.-2:30 p.m.- Work. It was a normal day...hard work, manual labor, ignorant shop banter, 30 min lunch, fussing and cussing, lunch, work, chill, I’m off.

3:15 p.m.- I’m on the phone with Dani my Love, she got off of work around the same time. I’m at Game Stop because my beloved PlayStation 4 started in safe mode and I need a USB cord.

Frustration #2 The cashier. Hey look, I’m a big black guy with a big stomach soooo...yeah. This guy is wider than me, his fat is looser than mines, he’s smart...but the way he looks at me and the energy he emits (I’m wholeheartedly in tune with my energy and others) says “What in the fuck does this red, black, and green Kufi wearing, manual labor (I had my work/prison uniform on) working ass, want?” “He couldn’t possibly know anything about real gaming, he must be in here for his child.” Now he didn’t literally say this, those were my thoughts...I may have been wrong. After I spoke “Hello”...he stood there. I said “Hello” again, forcefully this time. He spoke back, calmed down, and answered my questions thoroughly. The service was cool in the end.

3:50 p.m.-5. Below. I need a flash drive. Game stop big man suggested 5Below. No frustrations here...cashier admitted that they didn’t know what a flash drive was...but walked me to the electronic section (which I already rifled through). I appreciate the honesty and at least she tried.

4:13 p.m.-After a medium (I never get mediums) fry and some funnel cake fries from Checkers, on the phone with Dani still, I was sitting in front of Staples after a suggestion from an older brotha to go there for a flash drive.

Frustration #3 The afternoon cashier. Sooo I find a flash drive, I asked a guy who had the stature of a manager. Got it...went to the cashier. “Hello” I said....no response, no eye contact. She turns around and talks to the other employee about needed IG pennies. “You know what...I’m never coming back to this store.” “Ok...I don’t care!” Was her reply. I frustratingly asked for the manager...said fuck it...and walked out. I contemplated going back in to get my money..:but I just left. On to the next store where I KNOW some frustration is.

4:45 p.m.-Safeway. Greenbelt. My (closest) Store. There is a white dude cashier, at self check out, that always watches me with piercing foul eyes.

Frustration #4 Self check out cashier. That one time an item didn’t scan an item and I realized it after looking at the screen, went to go scan the item and “You didn’t scan that item!” was blurted aggressively in my ear. “Nigga I know!” It’s been a problem with me and him ever since. He was there when I went to self check out today...I purposefully blocked his vision, so he couldn’t see what I was scanning. He’s a frail white guy with glasses...what you think a nerd would look like. I talked to myself aloud, making sure he herd me...”why in the FUCK does he always watch me...I ain’t never stole SHIT out of this store...I should though!” Dani is till in my ear. I left...that’s it.

5:10 p.m.-I’m home, in the parking lot, waiting, chilling before I go in per normal. Dani is in my ear and we are having the most jovial, nothing, conversation...Love...ya know. All of a sudden “Bitch, Fuck you Bitch!” was exclaimed in the distance. I jump out of the car...

Frustration #4 The woman beater. I see a man and woman in each other’s face arguing. Be pushes her...my adrenaline pumps hard. “Aye slim don’t you put your hands on her!” He backs away still defaming her name. He gets in his car rides off, comes back...defames her name more. For a minute he was looking at me...fussing. “You talking to me?” I exclaim. He wasn’t...judging by his eyes cowering.

5:35 p.m.- Home. Mr. Willie gave me some chips for my twins (whom weren’t home)...he left quickly when the argument ensued. I understood. I walked into my home...solace. That’s it.

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travelingtheusa · 4 years

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RHODE ISLAND

13 Sep 2020 (Sun) – We toured Fort Adams this morning. It is the largest fort we have ever seen in all the years we have traveled around. We took the guided tour and got to see the casements, the tunnels, and the living quarters of the officers. We would have wandered for hours had we not had the tour.

After the fort, we drove into Newport and had lunch at the La Forge Restaurant. It was a quaint building adjacent to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The service was slow but it was a pleasant day. Neither of us was particularly overjoyed with our meal – my fish sandwich was soggy fritters were doughy. The meal was also quite expensive. Since the coronavirus pandemic, prices have shot up. I guess businesses are trying to recoup losses but…wow.

Following lunch, we toured the Tennis Hall of Fame. Since we are not tennis players and didn’t know many of the personalities on display, the museum was not as interesting as it could have been. My sister and her husband would enjoy it very much since they are both tennis players.

Tim called me today and asked why Susan would have told him to tear up the checks. Did I know what was going on? I explained that she was trying to protect him from himself. He is too nice and would let Barby have all the money and Susan did not want Barby to have it all; that he should have some of that money to offset his expenses, too. I was really annoyed with Susan. We spoke about it at the reception yesterday and she agreed to leave it alone then went and took back the checks anyway. I did not call her though, because I do not like to fight about money. Tim will get the money. It’s just a shame the way it’s been done.

12 Sep 2020 (Sat) – Today was the memorial service for Chris. There were quite a few people who showed up. That would make anyone feel good to know so many remembered them. I discovered that Barby comes from a family of 8. With Tim coming from a family of 6, there would probably should have been many more aunts, uncles, and cousins there. The minister was excellent. He spoke without notes for 40 minutes. The service was inspirational and uplifting. Some of them can get very dark and tearful. Gladly, this one didn’t. There was some drama, however. Chris had a girlfriend who was with him the day of the accident. She had gone to buy cigarettes and when she returned, she found his body. They had been living together. Barby doesn’t like her and would not let her attend the service. She came in during the visiting hour before the memorial service, then stepped out but paced in the outer room highly agitated and emotionally. Fortunately, she did cause a scene.

After the service, we went over Barby’s brother’s house. It was the same house where we had all gathered by Tim’s wedding almost 40 years ago. The brother and sister-in-law, Ken and Jan, were very gracious and friendly. Even though Tim and Barby have been divorced for more than 20 years, everyone was pleasant; there was no acrimony.

I started a Go Fund Me page on Facebook to raise money to help them with the funeral expenses. We raised about $5,500. I told Susan more checks were coming to me in the mail and we probably had almost $6,000 donated. We agreed that she would write two checks, each for $3,000 and give one to Tim and one to Barby (Susan was writing the checks because she has the liquidity. I will transfer the donations to her after Facebook places the money in my account.). Christopher, Susan, Paul, Miranda, and I took Tim and Barby aside at the house, before the luncheon, and gave them the checks. Tim promptly turned around and gave Barby his check as she has been putting all the expenses on her credit card. Tim feels her expenses have been greater than his and he wanted to reimburse her. Tim is a nice guy but we wanted him to cover his travel expenses from Florida to New York.

Later in the day, Susan asked me about taking back the checks; telling Tim that they were drawn on the wrong account. I said I thought we should leave everything alone. He is a grown man and can decide what to do with the money we gave him. If he wants to give it all to Barby, that’s his prerogative. It’s not what we intended but I felt it wasn’t our call. Susan agreed to leave everything as was. It was in God’s hands. She and brother Chris left to drive back to the New London Ferry and we said our goodbyes to everyone.

11 Sep 2020 (Fri) – We went to The Elms today, another “cottage” owned by a millionaire back in the late 1800/early 1900s. It is hard to believe that people actually liked to live in that kind of excessiveness. Didn’t they feel guilty about it, given that the rest of the country – the common people – were starving? It doesn’t make sense to me how people can squander money the way they did.

After touring the mansion once owned by the Birnbaums, we drove over to see Tim. He asked Paul if he could borrow some tools so he could make a cross to mark the spot where Chris died. He was grateful for them. We all drove down the street to the Symposium Diner and had lunch. Barby joined us shortly after we got there. After lunch, we went back to the house and visited for a bit before going back home.

10 Sep 2020 (Thu) – We now, officially, have slept/camped in all 50 states! We have passed through Rhode Island dozens of times on our way south but have never actually stayed in it. Now we have. It was overcast and foggy today. The forecast said it would start raining at noon so we decided to take a trolley tour in the morning and spend the rainy afternoon touring one of the many opulent mansions along Ocean Drive.

We drove into Newport and saw many historical buildings from the colonial era. We took a tour of the area on a trolley bus. It was not so good because it was difficult to hear the driver as he described the homes we were driving by, and everything seemed to be on the other side of the bus. Ugh.

After the tour, we walked over to the marina and had lunch at a lobster shack. We each had lobster bisque and shared a plate of deep-fried lobster bites. The boats in the marina were incredible. The international yacht institute is located in Newport and there were some of the most opulent yachts I’ve ever seen. They were several stories high; more like small ocean liners. The largest yacht in the marina was about 7 or 8 stories high with an Australian flag.

We drove to The Breakers. This was a “cottage” of the Vanderbilt family. “Cottage” is nowhere near describing this mansion. We have been in many mansions and this one was the biggest (70 rooms – 20 bathrooms) and the most opulent. There were murals and tiles and reliefs and exotic materials on all the walls, floors and ceilings. Each room was more jaw-dropping than the last room. The kitchen was the largest we have ever seen. While we were touring the “cottage,” it started pouring outside. We, very prepared couple, had failed to bring raincoats or umbrella with us. We had to walk the large grounds back to the parking lot and were thoroughly soaked by the time we got there. That’ll teach us!

9 Sep 2020 (Wed) – We packed up and left New York at 10:15 a.m. After sitting in the driveway for 2 months, I had forgotten how to hook the trailer up. Lol. We finally figured it out. The GPS had told us it was 3-1/2 hours to our campground. Unfortunately, we ran into traffic and it was closer to 6 hours before we arrived at the Newport Naval Station campground.

There are just 6 spaces lined up along the fence overlooking the Narraganset Bay. The sites are packed gravel on a grass surface. They’re very long and with good space between sites. We only have electric and water hookup; no sewer or Wifi. There is no office here. The campground is not on the base.

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