insert original title here

i started running with the niketown's running club last tuesday. i ran three miles in central park with the group at the pace of about nine minutes per mile. it was exhausting. tuesday was humid and bleak and i haven't ran in the longest time. i was surprised that i made it the entire way.

hopefully i can maintain this routine and run twice every week.

afterwards, my friend ellen took me to see the trading floor of bank of america. like the trading floor at ubs, all the seats are equipped with three or four screens, a fancy telephone with all sorts of dials, all sorts of amenities (trash bin and recycle bin next to each seat, water cooler directly behind every two or three seats), and of course an expensively comfortable chair. i jokingly said to ellen 'the only thing each seat is missing is a hole for them to use the bathroom.'

but seriously, these firms don't want anyone to feel the slightest need to stay away from his or her seat for longer than a few minutes.

ellen was talking to me about how the 'juniors' (what they call the new interns) do all the bitch work for the more senior employees. i can imagine that. that is similar to the social structure of a fraternity or even of some high schools (especially those that resemble the movie 'dazed and confused'). juniors do the bitch work, but once they become senior, then can make the new juniors do bitch work. and juniors should note that everyone in the firm has gone through the bitch work process. its like earning your dues.

speaking of the fraternity-esque structure of investing firms, there is a certain level of camaraderie among the male employees. of course i don't know much about this, but ellen was telling me about how they joke around, watch youtube, and generally don't take work too seriously.

and these are the people making money out of nothing. you don't have to be a genius to do it, or graduate with a 3.9 gpa, or any of that. just make sure you're the best damn slave you can be when you are a junior. or suck some really good dick.

-andy

(l)earning respect on the chinatown bus

last friday, after getting out of the thick heat and settling into my seat on the dc-bound chinatown bus on 7th avenue between 41st and 42nd street (right outside of the red lobster), i unfortunately encountered (what they call in the service industry) a bitch. she looked like a latina-caucasian mix with thin light brown hair. she wore light tan clothes and a pair of nike sneakers. and she sat two seats in front of me, across the aisle.

as i boarded the bus, i noticed that she, who i will now refer to as 'bitch', had her legs folded in the window seat beside her. but when the bus began to fill up, i heard her whiny voice over the buzz of midday traffic:

'i boarded this bus at 11:30am and i didn't know you guys [the eastern travel chinatown bus company] were going to pick up more people. i don't want to give up my leg space because i have very cramped legs.' complain, complain, complain, bitch, bitch, bitch.

ok. before i blow my frustrated load all over bitch's complaining face, a few things crossed my mind (directed to her).

1) the bus has always and will always go to the 7th/41st stop. the information is provided online and also on the schedule card that the chinese lady gives out. learn to read.
2) you are not the only with 'cramped legs'; there are 40 other passengers with the same leg space you have. the only difference that sets you apart isn't 'cramped legs' but 'poor attitude' or 'lack of courtesy' so please shut the fuck up and give peace to the rest of the passengers.
3) consumers should realize that in certain situations, the threat 'i will take my business elsewhere' made towards businesses will fall on deaf ears. for instance, when i worked at joe's crab shack, we seldom received that threat. but when we did, the managers countered with 'fuck her--we have plenty of other paying costumers for that to make any difference. it just makes it easier for us because our servers now don't have to deal with that bitch.' honestly, the chinatown bus has enough paying customers to worry about your 'cramped legs' and your grievances.

i told bitch to calm down.

'don't talk to me like that; don't you know to respect your elders?'

i don't know what infuriated me more: her lack of respect for her juniors (diction?) or her playing the 'respect your elders' card. how can she demand my respect under the premise that she is merely older than me? for the five minutes that i have known her, she has not proven herself worthy for my respect. she has not shown respect for the chinatown bus driver, for the passengers sitting near her, for the poor soul who got stuck sitting next to her and her 'cramped legs'. who is she to ask for my respect, period?

i will respect people who deserve and earn my respect, such as people who also show respect. 'respect your elders' is a subset of a larger 'respect people who have not given you a reason to not respect them' mantra (it doesn't make sense for those who choose to adhere to the 'respect your elders' so strictly that they become douche bags to children all over the world). for instance, i will respect people who i do not know, out of common courtesy. until somebody has proven himself to be an asshole, i will treat them with respect.

i will try, at least.

the only way that bitch can redeem herself is if something really bad happened to her prior her boarding the bus, which attributed to her sour mood. like the death of her parents or something. i wish ;).

-andy

day seven of my cannabis hiatus...

sanjay: did you know that there are amazing opportunities to be had in the exploitation of emerging third-world countries?
conrad: (to sanjay) there's 300 billionaires in this country and 40 million people living below the poverty line. wake up 7-eleven; this is the fucking third world.
(nancy and conrad leave room)
nancy: how do you know all that stuff?
conrad: the daily show.

-weeds, episode 21

i haven't written in a while. for the past few nights, i really couldn't will myself to write anything meaningful in here. it must've been all the free tv i get online (thanks victor for weeds and scrubs).

not to mention, marc has not been in for two days. so that is two days idly spent online websurfing and watching episodes. and here is my way overdue review of weeds.


weeds (showtime, season three begins august 13 at 10pm) is one of the most real, human tv shows that i have ever seen. granted, i don't watch much tv, but weeds reveals an underground world of drug dealing, politics, business, money, relationships, deception--all conveniently hidden under the delicate guise of a safe, suburban california community cutely named 'agrestic' (agrestic means 'rural'). weeds, created and produced by jenji kohan (writer for sex and the city, gilmore girls, and mad about you), is filled with sass and crass, witty and provocative dialogue. weeds really takes the standard 'american dream' and uncovers an entire side that most choose to ignore in a comedic, sometimes dark, manner. in it's audacity and blunt desire to cross controversial television standards (following showtime's mantra: 'no limits'), weeds does not beat around the bush with issues that other programs may be hesitant to address.

nancy botwin (mary-louise parker, who won the golden globe for best tv series-comedy in 2006, beating the other nominees who were all 'desperate housewives'), is widowed and left with two children. in order to maintain her lifestyle, she decides to deal marijuana and eventually begins growing her own strain (appropriately dubbed by snoop dogg as 'milfweed'). for the rest of the characters, there is celia hodes (elizabeth perkins) who is a self-righteous neighbor who hates her obese daughter (she calls her 'isa-belly'), as well as her cheating husband; doug wilson (hilarious kevin nealon) as nancy's accountant and business adviser, city councilman, and a huge pothead; heylia james (tonye patano) and her nephew conrad (romany malco) as nancy's first marijuana suppliers; and other drug dealers, a DEA agent, nancy's two adorable likable children, etc.

weeds is an adult show with adult subject matter that addresses issues on so many levels. watch season three! mary-kate olsen will be in the majority of this season as a love interest of silas botwin, nancy's oldest son. the upcoming season should be compelling, with or without a dime of sweet cheeba cheeba ;).

anyway, i am leaving work early to catch a bus to dc.

-andy