Love-Hate Relationship

As I mentioned recently, I've been evaluating my life in DC and considering a move. In doing so, I've been thinking a lot about what I love and hate about DC. Here are just a few things I thought of in the past few days:

Love

• Motorcades. Even after all these years, they're still exciting to me. I love the slow build up as the police clear the street and the long stream of police cars, ambulances, and SUV's with secret service guys hanging out of the windows with guns. And they seem to bring absolute strangers on the street together as we all stand around speculating on who could be in the armored car.


• The great architecture and lovely little gardens you see in the spring and summer.


• Diversity of people


• Constant abundance of new restaurants to check out


• The fact that DC has increasingly become a hot spot for shooting movies. Last week I stood outside in Adams Morgan with a huge crowd of on-lookers watching a scene from a movie being shot (picture) starring Reese Witherspoon and Paul Rudd. Not a sight you see everyday around here. However, like many others, I could care less about The Real World being filmed here. I can't believe people still watch that stupid show.


• The numbers of dates with different guys you can go on. Of course, if you're looking for more, this can be kind of negative. It takes me about 3 or 4 dates before I get really bored with the guy anyway and who can knock a free meal.

Hate

• Cab drivers. I've posted about my dislike of cab drivers before. But it's unfortunately hard to live without them, especially when you don't have a car. Some of the things about cabbies that really infuriate me are: telling you they don't have change (how ridiculous!), stopping to ask where you're going before letting you in (they're not even supposed to do that), smoking (also a no-no), and talking on a cell phone without an earpiece (yep, also illegal). Just today I had a cab driver who was filing his fingernails at each light and a few times did not stop doing this when the light turned green!


• People who wear work badges to happy hour


• The overabundance of people who have this sense of self-importance because of their job title, place of work, Alma Mater, salary, organizational affiliation, etc.


• The lack of authentic Asian food in the city


• The fact that some places tend to draw such stereotypical characters like Teaism, especially the Dupont location. I go there often because I love the food and it can be a tranquil place to eat during slow periods. But that wasn't the case the other day even at 3pm. The place is so small that you just can't help hearing other people's conversations. On one side of me were two "connected" moms, one with her child in a stroller, cackling away about a luncheon given by a woman who runs a foundation. As it turns out, Julia Roberts showed up at the luncheon because of some kind of charity work. The two of these women went on and on about how they were so in awe of her, what she looked like ("I bet she doesn't have any wrinkles") and what kind of mom she seemed to be. On the other side of me was the "intellectual dude" with his laptop and stack of Henry James novels as he proceeded to craft the perfect piece of literature.

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