Random poetry, love & doughnuts

I was on the inbound platform of the Davis Square T stop when I looked down and realized I was standing on my name. A closer look revealed this poem burned into the bricks:

Casabianca

Love’s the burning boy stood on the burning deck
trying to recite the boy stood on
the burning deck Love’s the son
stood stammering elocution
while poorer ship in flames went down


Love’s the obstinate boy the ship
even swimming sailors who
would like a schoolroom platform too
or an excuse to stay
on deck Love’s the burning boy

-Elizabeth Bishop

Really beautiful poetry is never where you expect it, and as I hopped off my name burned into bricks, I grinned. It's times like this, when I suddenly find myself suddenly working for Dunkin' Donuts with a bunch of Brazilians, being asked out by a guy who was in Junior High when I was learning to walk, and discovering that all the ends of the Boston T Green line reconnect that I have to admit, my life is exceptionally random.

I went out to get a joe job this week because the Harvard job doesn't pay enough to make my rent. I'm not picky about where I work, so long as I get paid. In fact, you can see a list of all the places I've ever worked here.

Monday I applied at Dunkin' Donuts, Wednesday I got the job, and Friday I worked my first shift. To my surprise, I really enjoy the job. My workplace is full of immigrant girls in their late teens and early twenties, mostly from Brazil, so they speak Portuguese. The Dunkin' Donuts I signed up with is all of 4 blocks from my apartment, so all I have to do is roll out of bed, shower, put on my uniform shirt and hat, and hand donuts and coffee to people all morning. There aren't a lot of ways to mess things up, and once I get going in any sort of retail space I tend to hit the flow state where my body does a lot of things automatically and I can sort of shut parts of my mind down.

Handing out donuts and coffee for hours on end is really sort of a relief after 18 months of grad school. When I walk into DD, I know what I’m doing. I don’t have to worry, or be insecure, or think really hard. I made straight A’s on my last term at Simmons, but I was a nervous wreck the whole time. DD’s is sort of soothing after a year and a half of that. Plus, I get free donuts.

So that’s what I’m doing until MIT or somebody gets off their ass and hires me. I still have the part time gig with the medical library, and I still like it. Often lately I find myself being unnecessarily grumpy there, and I know I need to quit that. I like the job and my co-workers; I’m just bugged that I don’t have the big full time kick ass archival position of my dreams yet.

I’m training with the Dunkin’ Donuts in Davis Square, out on the red line. Davis Square is very, very cool. There are odd works of art all around, like the poem, or the elderly couple made of clay with iron faces. There was in the middle of a big round raised metal to the city of Sommerville all these candles and poems and pieces of artwork people had left to protest the war. It made me want to stay in Davis square forever, but I had to get some rest: my Dunkin’ Donuts shifts start at 5am.

In othe news, a guy wants to date me, and I’m pretty sure he’s about 36 years old. Also of a different background than me, but possibly very interesting. I think I’m going to go on a big group date, throw him in with a lot of other freaks I know and see how he copes. The age gap doesn’t bother me so much as the idea that I’m poaching on older women’s territory. The proliferation of unmarried women in their late 30’s and early 40’s has often been blamed on men wanting to date younger women. So I’m scooping this thing out carefully, approaching with caution. But it is a big boost to my ego in these Dunkin’ Donuts times that someone passed me their number, emailed me, wants to hang out with me without any effort of pursuit on my end of things. Yeah, a big boost to the ego indeed.

Saturday I met my friend Maria out at Cleveland Circle for a movie and beer. I had never been to the end of a Green Line before, and image my surprise when I found out that the B, C, and D lines meet in front of Boston College. It’s hip down there, with a big old theater, lots of bars and ice-skating. Also, Cleveland Circle was full of cute guys. I was impressed with the whole area. It seems like no mater how long you live in Boston, you can still see new places every week. I don’t think anybody could ever know all the cool spots in this town, even if they lived here their whole lives.