Adventures, mainly on the bus
"No," I said.
"Ah, you just have one of those faces then. Now, I know we just met, but could you put your feet in the stirrups here?"
St. Frances was just a few blocks down, so I decided to drop in on Matthew. He's working with maintenance this summer. I saw Peg, one of Matthew's co-workers smoking outside. She let me in, saying, "He's on the third floor, wearing a tool belt. It makes him look so manly."
Matthew was installing lockers with Mr. Buddy. He said, "You remember Megan, Mr. Buddy?"
"Ah, yes, your fiancee," he said. Mr. Buddy is always kidding around about marriage to Matthew.
Matt came outside with me. He was concerned that I was walking alone around St. Frances because its a rough neighborhood. So I asked him to come wait with me at the bus stop, mainly for his sake. He was frustrated at how long the lockers were taking, and in a foul mood.
The bus was very crowded. There was an Iranian man in the back talking to some young black men who were Muslim. They wanted to hear how Islam was practiced there. One of them turned to me and said "Excuse me, did you go to Hamilton middle school"
"No," I said.
"Oh, sorry, you looked so familiar," He looked to be 18 maybe. So either he looks young or I look young enough to be his classmate.
Then I went to the bank and did some thrift shopping. The bus back was a little less crowded, so I got a seat in the back. A man sat two seats down from me, saying "You're one fine bitch," and making obscene hand gestures. I buried my nose in my book, and was grateful when a woman sat between us. He didn't say anything to her. Then lots of people got on so they were standing everywhere. The lady next to me was drinking malt liquor from a black bag. She had another bag with some children's videos she was trying to sell to the passengers.
"My mother had 17 children. I just buried my sister last week. Now I'm the only one."
The obscene man starting laughing loudly. "No way, that ain't true," he said. "No way your mom had 17 children."
The woman said it was, but she didn't seem that bothered that he thought she was lying.
When I got home, I had a letter from JVC:Northwest with my new address and who my community mates will be. I'm going have three housemates, all women. JVC:East last year just sent us each others contact info, but the Northwest writes one paragraph bios of us. I will reprint the paragraph they wrote about me for your amusement.
Megan Rafferty spent this past year as a JV in Baltimore, MD working as a residential aide at a 24-hour facility for adults with late stage HIV disease. Originally, she comes from upstate New York. She graduated in 2003 from Kenyon College with a BA in Classics and English. St. Paul's Mission Grade School will have Megan working as a reading clinician. Her interests include writing, tutoring, peace and the Catholic Worker movement. She explains, "I think I've learned a lot this year, but there's still so much I want to experience with JVC. This has been one of the happiest years of my life."
Peace and the Catholic Worker movement? I am befuddled at how they think this is one of my interests. Not that I have anything against them, but I've never been very interested in the Catholic Workers. I never mentioned them in any interviews or my application. It makes me wonder about what they say about the others, too.
Then I came to Hopkins to go on the internet. A woman tapped me on the shoulder, but when I looked up, she said "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else."
"I get that a lot," I said.
