Kevin It’s coming down to the wire for this tour of duty of my summer job. I’d spent the better part of 3 weeks at a location in a neighboring town. It took a 2 hour bus ride out there, and since the express/commuter bus that went right by that location didn’t go the regular route back into town, it went through a different part of my neighborhood. It was no more of a distance than this one place I used to go to.
Better yet, it was right by the spraygrounds. It’s why I wore my swimsuit under my work clothes, and my jelly shoes. I could stop by the spraygrounds after work, and walk home from there.
I clocked out for the last time on this tour of duty, got the last of my things, and put the dishes I’d been using in the dishwasher as my favor to everyone there.
I put on my radio headphones, and waited for the bus. It ran late the other night, which meant I didn’t get home until nearly 9pm, only to wake up at 5am to do it all over again.
After some creepy old rando guy came up to me a few days prior, yelling at me, and then started grabbing at the jacket I had in my hand while I was waiting for the bus out to the neighboring town, I officially started counting down the days.
Then came another creepy old rando guy on the bus coming home, when I was still transferring buses at the station. He made some sick comments about my looks, pretending it was a “compliment.” I’m 99% sure I heard him call me outta my name in ways nobody w/ a pulse should use.
That’s when I started getting off of the express/commuter bus in my neighborhood and walking from there. And ppl have the gall to wonder why I don’t trust anyone, or ever feel safe, smh.
Turns out I got home way sooner than I did going to the bus station to transfer to whichever one was leaving soonest.
Today was the last day. My original game plan was to go to the fair on Friday, but I decided to come in to help out another day instead. I needed the money anyways.
After some difficult experiences there, I was ready to report back to my other job. The doers of those difficult experiences never once apologized to me, and at this point, they never will.
I saw this thing on Pinterest that said something about how life becomes easier when you learn to accept the apology you never got.
I decided to let their bullshit behavior speak for itself, and to let sleeping dogs lie. I don’t need their apologies anyway, and I’m not interested in anything they have to say for themselves.
My last day on that tour of duty ended on a high note, and I felt a hint of sadness at the idea of leaving them for the school year.
At the same time, I’d been looking forward to the day my other job started back up again, since this time, I’d be eligible for benefits and a wage that’s at least somewhat livable. That wasn’t the case last year, since what good would those almighty benefits be if I was homeless?
I loaded up my gym bag w/ my stuff, grabbed the bus schedule, and put on my headphones. I walked out of there for the last time that summer, and went over to a neighboring business.
There used to be a location in my neighborhood, but they closed it a few years back. The word on the street was they didn’t like the building anymore cuz it was “old and run-down.”
If that was the case, there wouldn’t be a new business on track to utilize that same “old and run-down” building, which there is.
Something’s not adding up, and I feel like there’s more to that story than what they’re letting on. Oh well. I’m looking forward to seeing what that new business is like anyways. After the horror stories I heard about the previous tenant of that place, it’s no real loss in the scheme of things.
I switched between the AM and the FM dials on my headphones when the FM station absolutely had to play the same two songs over and over, or when a misleading commercial came on the radio.
The bus came down the street, and as I looked back at the building. Off to the side, I saw one of the leaders in the location for my summer job getting into his SUV. I waved to him, but I doubt he saw me.
It was finally getting real. I found a spot near the front, where the late summer evening sun cast shadows through the bus windows. The driver had one of the top windows open, and the breeze blew in. I turned around, and saw him drive away.
I kept looking toward the back, until I lost my visual on him as the bus hauled ass back to town toward the freeway.
After a certain point, the bus no longer went the regular route, which was fine by me. I was hoping it would go by the neighborhood, so I could stop by the spraygrounds, but no luck. Instead, it went downtown to a restaurant I got plans to try out sometime.
This meant I had to go to the bus station yet again, and risk seeing either or both of the assholes from the previous week.
I got through this before. I can get through it again. Just gotta get whatever bus is leaving the soonest, and hope for the best.
No sign of either of those asswipes in sight. I got on the first bus leaving the station for my neighborhood, and turned on the radio on my headphones. The interference on the AM stations is horrible on the bus, so FM dial it is.
Tomorrow, I’m going to the fair. It’s gonna be a total 180 from what it was in the previous two years, both of which were the absolute pits from hell.
I hope every naysayer who made those fair trips the miserable, rotten, pointless waste of time for me never has to see this firsthand.
This year’s fair will be great. I’ll even get to pick up some stuff I wanted there last year, but didn’t have the money for. Better yet, it’ll be my ultimate ‘fuck you’ to those naysayers, and to ppl who ruined fair trips for me as a kid.
The original plan was to go on Friday, but I needed the money, so I stuck around at my summer job for Friday instead. I knew my period would start the following week, so I’ll cram the fair trips back to back. It’s already ruined more fair trips than I care to remember, and it won’t be ruining this year’s fair trips if I have anything to say about it.
It’s getting late as I stop back home, drop off my gym bag for my summer job, and grab my convenience store cup for a refill. It helps get steps in, and universe knows I need to lose some more weight, haha. Hopefully I’ll get back home in time for the baseball game, or if not, early enough to play catch-up.
Missed the previous installments? No worries! I gotcha, right here: 33, 32, 31, 30
