My lovely wife Sarah and I are finally starting to settle in here in Rochester, having been at our new apartment for two weeks. Moving, as always, sucked, but now we seem to be finding our upstate New York groove. Essentially, it's the same as a Boston groove, just with less cursing out of pedestrians and a slightly better accent.
Things I've done in Rochester that I never did in Boston:
-I came upon a streetfight while walking home one night. Now, of course, I've come upon streetfights in Somerville...Hell, I've come upon fatal stabbings in Somerville. The difference is that in Rochester the combatants stopped fighting as I approached, then they separated and let me pass before returning to the punching and the kicking and the so on and so forth. One even gave me a "What's up?" nod.
-Friday night Sarah and I went to one of the many local hot dog eateries that dot our neighborhood. I ordered the "garbage plate," a Rochester specialty. My garbage plate consisted of two split hot dogs smothered in baked beans, onions and mustard perched on top of macaroni salad, French bread and French fries. It was awesome.
-I walked into a Hess station looking for directions. The guy behind the counter was tattooed and scary and was cursing as he sifted through a huge pile of receipts. Again, no different than Boston. As I approached he looked up and said "God damn paperwork. I hate this shit!" Still, same as Boston. But then he smiled, put the paperwork down and said "Anyways, sorry. How are you doing today?". And he meant it! We talked for five minutes and then he gave me the best directions ever.
