Brothers Just Miss Uniting
I’m on the New York City bound Bolt Bus, it’s 9:50pm on June
13th. Tomorrow is my mom’s birthday, turning a ripe old “just over
30.” Momma Dukes doesn’t know that I’m coming home tomorrow—I’m slated to get
in at 1:50am on the morning of the 15th. I put in three consecutive
workdays from 8am-8pm to finish out my time working at the Morris House Hotel
and on-site M Restaurant in Philadelphia. I’d love to say that I put in these
12 hour days just to get home for mom—I’ll certainly tell her that when I see
her tomorrow (I’m making her a surprise dinner!)—but it’s not entirely true. I worked
relentlessly because, while Philly has been one of the most rewarding chapters
in my life, it’s time to look forward and move on.
I spent Spring Semester of my junior year away from Whitman
College (for the second time) on a domestic off-campus studies program. Last
time I was away, sophomore fall, I was living the hippie environmentalist dream
in the American West. This semester was about as different as it could get—I
went from camping out at night, never shaving and taking class in the form of
informational interviews with people all over the west to a world of
well-cropped young professional with a business focus and classes at night. I
went to Philly to get more exposure to the business world I will be entering
when I graduate next spring. I also went away because I needed to leave Whitman
one more time to get excited about going back. Philly was the perfect medicine.
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| Tom and I on a typical day at class during Semester in the West. |
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| Life in Philadelphia was Presidential Suite. |
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| Waiting for the trolly by my house in West Philly, Feb 2012 |
The bathroom on this bus is leaking a most horrible
substance and smell, and we’re a quarter of the way through the two-hour trip.
Am I imagining my feet getting sticky?
If I black out it will be a shorter post than anticipated.
After my internship I was hired for the first part of the
summer hosting at M Restaurant and continuing my work on the business
management/marketing side of the hotel. I got the privilege of designing, wording and formatting some
great stuff—I’ll post some if I can figure it all out—that the boutique hotel now uses for a good amount of
their marketing.
But as I said, this chapter is closing. I finally exited
about 15 Microsoft Word documents just before writing this post. It’s summer
vacation time. I now leave Philadelphia
with two cheesesteaks in a paper bag and remedy of closures. I feel like a
different man—certainly better looking, more intelligent, more suave, sexy,
serendipitous and, uh, humble…
Humble…
I’ll think about that one for a while. At the very least Philly has taught me
the value of hard work and the struggles and rewards of repetition. Gotta pay
bills, gotta eat.
But more importantly, gotta go to summer camp.
I’m heading into year 14 at Kingswood, none greater than
last when I had three of my best friends from Whitman, my best friend from camp
and my brother all counselroring beside me. I can’t wait. Microsoft Word
closed, tackle box open.
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| Listening to the sounds of the Lake Tarleton wildlife, Summer 09 |
Ah, but Dave, dearest, the subject line of your post—the
only reason we’re reading all of your stream of consciousness nonsense is
something along the lines of brothers not
uniting! What’s all this mumbly jumbly happy wavy stuff about closure and camp?
Well yes, my humble imaginary shoulder ferret, you’re right, there is supposed to be a mope
mop going on here, isn’t there. Well, I’ll have you know that despite my
valiant efforts in sonship and brotherhood, I have failed to get home quite
early enough to unite with the man with whom I shared a womb… Or an egg if you
managed to get through my last post…
Ray, my brother from our mother, as I’m sure he will be
posting most post-hastidly, has departed TODAY to begin his great South American kibitz. Unfortunately we missed each other by just a few hours. My cheesestook
chump is bumbling back to Brooklyn and his Ecuadorian equating is taking him
south of the equator. Alas, we shall be
kept disunited until that fateful moment whence we both arrive on the shores of
Mother T. I greedily await the day.
Bye for now. My vision has clouded from gaseous fumes and
terrible chemicals. If only I could blame that for the content and style of my
writing.
Thanks for reading : )
Happy Birthday Mah!
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| A Brothers Unite gem to close out the post! Ray's graduation, 2011 |
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