The Family Girl Blogs (aka "The New Working Girl Blogs") Blog #7: Blackout Bagels To see all of Bobbie's Family Girl Blogs, click on this link: http://bigclosetr.us/topshelf/book/28818/family-girl-blogs

Moe hasn't come home yet, which is a good thing, I suppose.   At least she skipped the power blackout.

I live in a neighborhood where the power and phone lines are still mounted on wooden phone poles.   In fact, right outside my house is a wooden telephone pole with a   transformer.   And last night, it blew.   Hurricane-connected, I'm sure.   Hence power blackout.   Or is it brownout - I'm not sure.   Not that big of a deal, actually - after the hype of Hurricane Irene, I was actually anticipating something several magnitudes worse.

Anyway, my little alarm was a wind-up clock so I was abe to wake up at 5:30, as usual.   But I couldn't have my usual bagel and hot chocolate.   I had a cold shower (brrr!!), did my morning ablutions and got dressed by the light of a couple of battery-powered lights.   

Don't know how long the lights will be off, but thank goodness I made a lot of ice in plastic bags so I know the stuff in the fridge will last a while.

Thank goodness for Cricket, too - my little Suzuki 4x4.   I was able to splash through the flooded parts of River Road and Arlington Avenue, and made the ten-minute drive to this bagel place for something hot for breakfast.

It was my first time there, but we've seen the place lots of times while driving home.   It was   a little bakery with yellow awnings out, and it was right beside a coffee place.   They didn't have electrical power as well, but they were doing a brisk business.   When I got there this morning, there was a line out, but most of the people didn't look like me - they didn't look like they were driven out by the power outages to look for something warm for breakfast.   Actually, most of them looked like regulars.

The people were friendly (many of them older than me, though there were a lot of young people, too) and gave me pleasant nods as I queued up with them.   Some of the women asked me if I lived in the neighborhood and I told them that I sort of did, coz my place was just a five-to-ten minute drive away.   I further explained that I was fairly new to the city, not even seven months.   I guess that sort of cracked the ice and most of them introduced themselves.

After getting my bagel & cream cheese and hot chocolate, the people told me to get the pumpernickel as well coz it was good.   I got two to eat later at the office.   The place was pretty warm so I went out to munch my goodies outisde before drivng on to the office.   One of the ladies got up and gave me her spot on the little bench outside.   She waved away my protests, saying she needed to get home already.

I has a pleasant chat with the people outside. A few of the girls gave me phone numbers and I made promises to get in touch (I suppose none of the men didn't because of the implied meaning that would have had).   I suppose they were friendly because it was partly due to the "disaster syndrome," where people become closer and try to help others during times of crisis, but I say "partly" because Hurricane Irene didn't turn out to be the disaster it was supposed to be.   Maybe it was also part of the feeling of community that these people out so early in the morning clearly had, making small talk over coffee and bagels with friends and just shooting the breeze.   Hopefully, this could be the start of our integration into the neighborhood for real.

Our new city isn't like DC, with its hustle-and-bustle, and never-ending traffic jams, but our new city isn't a backwoods kind of place either - its as cosmopolitan as DC but it was just a little more laid back.   It's a nice change of pace, and I hope we get to become as used to it as I was to my old neighborhood.   Maybe this place or the coffeeshop next door can be my new Soho's.

In my short life, I (and I suppose people like me) have rarely been accepted off the bat or at face value like this.   It was a good thing.   I guess I can't really be blamed for being sort of grateful for the power outage and the hurricane.   Just a litle bit.

Anyway, I was just thinking, wouldn't it be nice to have neighbors who you can chit-chat with, and share neighboorhood news with, and possibly even neighborhood gossip, too? :))

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