The Cheeriest Fare Ambassador

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I made a mental note to pick up some toothpaste on my way home. I was saddened by the reality that Rite Aide is gone, leaving me with nowhere in the neighborhood to buy toothpaste except QFC.

(Hmm… Does M2M sell toothpaste? I kind of doubt it, but I don’t completely doubt it. It’s worth an explore.)

The Link train that arrived this morning had only three cars and, with Tuesday being one of the busiest commuting days, the train was packed.

So I was surprised to see Fare Ambassadors at work this morning.

I watched the Fare Ambassador make their way down the packed train, toward my end of the car. They were saying, “Excuse me, sorry, excuse me, sorry, sorry, sorry, excuse me, excuse me, sorry” the whole way.

They were the cheeriest Fare Ambassador I’d every seen. They seemed to be truly enjoying their job. They gave their introductory speech with an enthusiastic smile.

After they scanned my card, they said to me, “Thank you, and how’s it going?” I replied, “Well, so far, so good, and you?” They laughed a genuine laugh, and said, “Same. Thank you.”

In the middle of the morning, Phillip sent me a text: Our friend Charles was in the area and wanted to meet up for an early dinner at Pelicana Chicken this evening. I replied that that sounded great.

I got home from work and had a few minutes to relax until we headed out the door. It had been raining heavily on my walk from Capitol Hill Station. It was still raining, but not as heavily, as we walked up the hill to Broadway.

Phillip commented that he wasn’t used to walking around in that kind of weather. It sounded like an observation more than a complaint or anything else. I thought it was interesting. He commutes by car, and I hadn’t thought about our different exposures to weather before.

We had a short wait for a 49 over to Pine Street. We got there pretty much when we said we’d meet up.

We had a nice, relaxed dinner with Charles. We hadn’t seen him in a couple of years. It was fun catching up.

After dinner, Phillip and I waited for a northbound 49, while Charles waited across the street for a southbound 49.

When we exited the bus, Phillip said he wanted to stop into QFC. I assumed he needed more Diet 7up, and was surprised when he went upstairs, and turned right, toward the housewares and pharmacy departments.

Then I realized that I’d forgotten to pick up that toothpaste I’d made the mental note about.

I picked up some tubes of toothpaste.

We stopped into the liquor department. Phillip bought some rum, and paid for the drain cleaner he’d picked up. Since I was there, I bought some whiskey and paid for my toothpaste.

Rum & drain cleaner. Whiskey & toothpaste.

It’s been an enjoyable day.