Eric Bridgman Cafe Closet Bathroom

Now, sometimes I just weird.

I went into the dollar store to use the bathroom (since I needed to buy dollar store items) and because it was an old downtown building, there was no bathroom. Err, well, there was a bathroom? The back of the store had a door to go upstairs since it built in a time when people lived above their shops. So it did have a bathroom, it's just someone's... house.

I was being really not social and I just wanted to use a bathroom. I bought my items and left with as little human contact as possible. Only, I really needed to go. Like terribly so.

I dropped my items into the car, and dashed to the nearest building that might have a bathroom. It was a small cafe: Eric Bridgman's.

Now, when I mean small, I mean tiny. It was a really kozy place for old people. Well, I had lunch waiting in the car and little time to be away from the job site, so I quickly scanned the room for a door or hallway, and the woman across the room (maybe 30' away) asked if she could help me.

"Do you have a bathroom?"
"Do we have a bathroom? Well, sure we do. *sighs* It's in the back of the kitchen."

I dashed as fast as I could, but was stopped in order to sqeeeeeeeeze between the kitchen applicances and few workers. It was the size of a bathroom. Then as I'm almost a foot away from the back exit, I see this less-than-normal sized door leading into a room truly smaller than a closet. Found the bathroom!

I think a port-a-potty would have been bigger. I will say it was cleanish though. Hot, no air, so it was really hot and sticky in there. When I got out, there was an old man standing in the kitchen half-smiling at me, waiting to use the bathroom as he was pinned against the wall between the cook trying to wash a dish or two. As quickly as I had entered I made a mad dash. I knew I wasn't going to buy anything. I thought about giving them a dollar or two for using their bathroom, but I thought that would be more weird, and the lady who greeted me was busy.

I was very thankful for the bathroom even though I probably seemed like the biggest weirdo.

Yes, I straddled the toilet on one foot to take this picture.

Yes, I sat on the sink to take this picture.

Verdict: Not going back. Waaaay too small for comfort and I embarrassed myself with my hit-and-run, so I don't want to show my face around there again.

Profiling

Whenever the police come around it's great. Lots of people slow down and give us plenty of space. Yet, some people, if they don't see the cop, are still speeding. But the cop doesn't stop them, they go merrily on their way. Why? It becomes obvious after a few state troopers that they aren't here for the speeding tickets, they are here for the drug busts.

Yet until like the speed gun, there is no drug gun. There is no way of telling who has drugs until you pull them over. People sometimes forget that when they hear about these great big drug busts on the news; a lot of people were pulled over to get that one drug smuggler.

A white dirt worker said it perfectly today, and it struck me in a certain profound way, especially for how politically incorrect most construction workers are:
"Damn, I wish dem cops start pulling over people speedin'. I understand they out here catchin' people carryin' drugs, but it makes me sick to watch 'em. Just last week I seen dem pull over 20 cars. But you know how they pick 'em? They pick the hippies, and the blacks. The mexcians too. I seen them take out the dogs on 'em and sniff their car all over. Almost all of them have campin' supplies with 'em. I wish they'd pull over a rich white person. Damn it ain't right. It just ain't right." 

 

This is a video of the traffic on I-94. Spoiler, they won't slow down.

Ticks

Source: http://www.mainelyme.org/

Ticks. Ticks are the ban of my existence. Three were on my today. I lost count of my ticks in order to maintain sanity. They are the most vile of insects. Blood-sucking, six-legged, disease-carrying drudgeries of the planet. As the truck driver put it, "Mosquitoes and ticks, I tell ya. Nature's vampires."

One day, I was working with a laborer who was.... unaccustomed to working with a young woman as an inspector and he was trying to frighten/gross me out with typical things that would scare young women. I had a bug on me, and one of the laborers got it off. Nonplussed, I thanked them.

"You ain't scared?"
"As long as it's not a tick."
"Oh ticks are nothing, I seen real big spiders round here. This big! Creeping and crawlin-"
"But ticks are densely populated in this area. They latch on."
"Pshh ticks! I've seen rats coming out of the sewer that can nibble on your--"
"Ticks latch on after crawling anywhere on your body, then start sucking your blood until they fill up like a balloon and waddle away. You find one, and try to take it out, it's head becomes dislodged in your skin. Sometimes only removal by surgery."
"Snakes!!! There are poisonous snakes in this area that you have to watch out for. They slither around in the grass. Just a few years ago, me and Jim were poking one in the grass and it coulda jumped and snapped---"
"Ticks carry LYME'S disease. That means with one bite you are looking at flu-like symptoms, joint pain, future heart problems, ect. The tick population is the record high in this area this year, and tons of the ticks carry lyme's disease. Snake? They don't have lyme's disease. And there aren't like 4 that crawl up and down you a day. The only way to prevent tick bites is checking over yourself throughout the day, wearing tight clothing, and spraying tons of deet."
"Oh wow, yeah, I better get some deet..."

After my first day of ticks, I thoroughly researched it and did this PSA whenever new laborers came on site and didn't freak out when someone had a tick on them, which was every often. The more you know~

Ticks and distracted drivers. Nothing in this world is more terrifying on a construction site.



For more information on ticks, check out these sources! 
 http://www.michiganradio.org/post/theres-tick-boom-michigan-here-are-5-things-you-should-know
 http://www.cdc.gov/lyme/