"Another grueling day"

5/10/07

12:50 p.m.

I leave house for Bagelo. I take the elevator down to the first floor. It's pretty rare for me to have a normal or positive experience with someone in my building! Anyhow, a man is blocking me from emerging. I just look @ him for what seems like forever, waiting for him to let me pass. (What ever happened to common sense!?  ( Like letting  people off of the bus or elevator before you enter?)

 He won't budge. Finally, I say: "Would you please let me out?" At the same time I ask that my "stalker" yells at me from down the hall:

 "How you doon today?"    I ignore him.   "Elevator" man finally lets me emerge.

A woman in a wheelchair is blocking the exit to the elevator. I ask her if she needs me to hold the door so she can get out. "No, I'm not going out!"

  "Can you let me out then please?"

I come home to wait on a call from a friend. Just before I leave the house, I have to hide my 6 c.d.'s (most everything else I was forced to put into storage) and my journals, and just pray that the maint. men don't see me leave my bldg. (They steal at least one thing from me per week)

  They always see me leave my apt. and they did today as well. Last week they stole a portrait and a frying pan. I've decided not to enter into a legal battle because I don't want to risk being physically harmed. My life matters more than my stuff at this point, and as I said in an earlier blog, we are not allowed to change the locks without giving a key to the maint. men.

Becky drops me off in Towson. I called the courthouse in advance to make sure that I go to the correct court bldg. I am filing a small claim against my phone provider who is sending me 100 dollar bills every month, even though their ads promised that they will provide me service at 25 a month. I keep paying the bill for fear that if I don't I'll be without phone service.

  I walk the 7 blocks to the courthouse. I have completely forgotten that I have a non working cell phone in my backpack. Security puts me though the belt and such. They send my coins thru, my fanny pack through, my backpack through, my keys through. Oddly, the security sensors don't detect my non working cell phone and like I said, I didn't even remember it was in my pack! Once I'm all the way through all of the sec. proceedings I ask the guards to point me in the direction of the small claims court. "Maam, you've got the wrong bldg." "That's 5 blocks away!"

I walk east to York Road. During my eternal wait to cross York Road,  a middle school girl on a school bus sticks her head out the window looks right at me and says:

 "Fuck you bitch! "

 These brief "human" interactions exhaust me and are a big reason why I want out of Baltimore.

  I cross York Road and walk to the other courthouse.

I finally arrive. I put everything on the belt. "Maam, do you have a cell?" "No, I replied" (again, not remembering that I do) They find it and tell me to come back when I don't have a cell. I frustratingly say out loud to the air (knowing that they don't give a damn about my problems) "But I don't have a car to put the cell phone in!"

I was bound and determined to file this small claim. I walk 2 blocks thru Towson eyeing each shop, restaurant and office, fully realizing that my proposition will seem very strange. My plan is to walk into one of the shops, hand an employee my cell phone, and say something to the effect of: "I know this seems really strange, but I have to go to the courthouse and they won't let me take this in, will you keep it for an hour?!" I thought about the weirdness of the whole thing, looked up at the library clock and realized that the courthouse will be closing soon and it's just cutting it too close. I abandon my hope for the day and come to the library to post this to my blog! Talk to ya soon!