Monsey, New York

I recently visited the great large apple of NYC and the beautiful state of New Jersey on a recent sales trip. One of the highlights was seeing my rabbi friend Heshy in Monsey, NY. Since it was the night before Sukkot - Heshy wanted to take me out and see the community and how different it would be for someone like me coming from a secular background.

Joseph Berger of The New York Times said in a 1997 article that Monsey in the 1950s "was a small rustic intersection with a single yeshiva." By 1997 Monsey had 112 synagogues and 45 yeshivas (Wikipedia).

I saw a number of interesting things but surprisingly my biggest cultural shock moment was going to the Orthodox supermarket at about 11 AM on a Thursday night, bussling with people. This 100% kosher supermarket was, not joking, a slightly reduced in size version of Cosco. My friend is not Hasidim (see pic. above) but almost all of the other shoppers were (and were men). The majority of these folks speak the dying language of Yiddish while the people working there were almost all Spanish speaking. Given the product mix - which was also almost entirely foreign and in Hebrew and the noise level of so many people speaking and yelling things accross the aisles at once, I really thought I was in another country. I also wasn't sure whether my Spanish or Yiddish needs more improvement - oy gevalt what am I saying I don't speak any Yiddish!

Anyways, I'm walking around in awe when all of the sudden I get hit with the worse heart burn (reminescent of a previous occassion - I should probably do something about this at some point) and fell to the floor clutching my chest in pain. It wasn't like I wasn't already receiving a wide range of stares dressed and looking the way I was. After Heshy finally found me and finished his shopping we were able to leave with only slight embarresement. No one did offer any me help, Sukkot was too soon around the corner (actually I sort of ran off an hid between cash registers in a crouched position)
This entry finally connected my two favourite things to write about - heartburn and Judaism. Coincidence? I hope not

My Top 5 Cities

I'm heading home on the Bolt Bus from NYC right now and thought I'd use their free wi-fi to write a quick blog entry - it's crazy that they have this bus now and it's not anymore $$ than the Chinatown bus (and your bus will not explode into flames mid-way).

I had a few days in Jersey for a business trip and in the past have used this opportunity to visit friends in NYC. This time I kind of wanted to get back to Boston and it made me realize how this has become my new home and how much the city's grown on me. It's still not my favourite - in fact right now, at least for cities in the U.S. (plus Montreal since it's close to where I grew up) it might go something like:

1. Montreal*
2. New Orleans
3. Burlington***
4.Minneapolis/St. Paul
5. Pittsburgh/Madison (tie here)
*The one caveat with these ones is in the winter they probably doesn't even make the top 5 because it's so cold.
***Not because it's cold but because of all the annoying UVM students is really only #3 because of it's amazingness in the summer

NYC is a tough one because it goes from 1 to last so quickly from moment to moment - it's just such a crazy place that has extrreme potentials for coolness or terribleness and it's different every time I go. Pittsburgh is surprisingly very cool - lot's of hills, up & coming with very affordable living (and bars), lots of artsy type stuff going on - give it a chance it will surprise you. I imagine Philly and Portland would make the list if I spent more time there. Tuscon is cool too - but doesn't seem really together like a lot of places out West you need a car so it gets cut from the list.

I feel pretty lucky that I've been able to go to a bunch of Red Sox games, see a few shows, go on a few adventures, and many times at-the-last minute, which is much harder to do in NYC. So for now I'm sticking around and hoping that winter won't suck too hard

Police brutality

Going through Dorchester on my way home from the Cape this weekend I had an interesting experience with the police. And by interesting I mean I almost pooped my pants.

I seem to always get in trouble when I am with my friend Higgsy from London who doesn't usually wear a seatbelt for whatever reason and usually puts his feet high up on the dashboard. He's also quite a lanky fellow so it's very noticeable for a passerbye. Dorchester is not such a great neighborhodd in Boston but it wasn't too late, only around 9 or so and it was Sunday.

I still don't know why I was pulled over but there were two cars and the one unmarked one had a big black dude in street clothes that was the most intimidating "police" officer I've ever had to talk to. I think they thought we must have been someone else because they first were asking about what Higgsy was holding on his hand (a GPS) and where we were going...he asked me if I had been drinking and I said no and he pressed me on it saying, "so you haven't a single drink today??!!!" and since the truth was that I had had a beer at around 11 am I told him so and he went bezerk and asked if I thought he was an idiot and told me to step out of the car. I tried to explain that what I meant was that I had drank one beer and not "been drinking" - seems like two very different things right? He started shouting at me about if he asks a question he wants an answer and he asked if I was drinking water whether I would tell him or not. It was absotuely ridiculous. He then was saying how I was stumbling and my eyes were all glazed over - which none of this was true and I told him to breathalize me. He then told me he could put me in the slammer if he wanted. and after telling Higgsy (as they continued to harrass me) that they were fuc$#ng me, they even searched through my car and asked about open containers. They were saying that Higgs was going to have to drive my car home and I told them that he only had an international liscence and didn't know how to drive stick and they were like "we don't care."

The whole thing was crazy and when they finally let me go back in my car they jokingly said to Higgsy, "what's going on here?!" and he told me that they were indeed screwing with me. And actually as I found out afterwards he had told them to do so when they asked him halfway through if they should keep doing it. If he had said no things probably would have gotten worse so I think it was the right answer. But still, they couldn't have been completly screwing around since they continued to search my car even after they told him it wasn't real.

I'm just glad I got away unscraped but it was really terrifying and I'm never good in those situations anyways. I wish I could know why I was pulled over - they just told some lame thing like "slow down" right at the end but I feel like this is exactly why so many people hate cops. They probably could have actually put me in jail for some made up thing if they had really wanted to.

Something smells Fishy at 3231 Washington St.

A christian from Ecuador, a Muslim from Springfield (MA), and a Jew from Vermont walk into a bar...

sounds like the beginning to some joke right? Well this is the rainbow that is my apartment and for the most we get along pretty well. Last night my Muslim roommate Hammed (who's not really observant at all but that's his background) expressed some frustrations with me. I understood a lot of his complaints and I can get in trouble when I fail to see something that is common sense to most people. Take this for instance:

My roommate Hammed told me that his whole family and a bunch of friends would be coming to the house for a graduation party and he gave us some good heads up notice. While I knew they were coming I didn't really think it would be such a bad idea to fry up a quick fish before they got there. Problem was, by the time I actually started frying this smelly greasy fish, his whole family was there, and for some reason, many were in suit and ties and standing around me as I fried. I was the loan white person there too. His mom and sister invited me though to come and join outside with their bbq but I could tell Hammed would not be happy if I took her up on this offer.

So no one actually said anything about the fish at the time, and looking back it is somewhat humorous, albeit rude. But apparently, as I found out last night, my roommate has been holding a grudge against me for the last few months after since this fish frying incidence. I can understand his frustration - I just don't do deal with passive aggressive people who hold things in like this.

Canadian Cougars

Going home for Memorial Day was really nice. I took a trip to perhaps one of my top 3 favourite cities - Montreal. There's just a lot to do there, beautiful parks and overlook at Mont Royal, lots of good eateries and cultural events, and the city just always seems to be more alive than Boston (or Burlington for that matter). And I'm not just saying this because when you turn 18 in Vermont you go to Montreal to drink legally (slash see some "dancing"), it really does seem to be more vibrant. Every time I've been there seems to be some funny or crazy thing that happens. The highlight from this trip was going with my current roommate in Boston to a club downtown (unlike Boston you can actually hang out downtown at night) known as "le Funkytown" that a random stranger had recommended to us. The funny thing was that it actually was pretty funky town (the music wasn't bad)- just not in the way I expected. After paying a $10 cover there was no turning around after coming in and noticing that there was hardly a single person there under the age of 39. Now for most 24 year olds this would be a pretty awkward moment - and it was. Especially because many people had that real traditional Quebecois thing going on. But I figured I had nothing to lose so I took to the dance floor and after some time was in my element and had a small crowd dancing with me. I ended up having a pretty fun time with some of the Canadian Cougars - although for some reason all of these woman were about a foot taller than me. I even inspired some older balding men to join the dance floor - good times.

The funny conclusion to this trip was that ever since the border police searched my car as a teen many years ago I always freak out at the border (not that I wouldn't anyways). Going to Canada the guards pretty much say, "have a good time eh (added for emphasis) and if you go to that club Funky Town make sure to say hi to Edna for me," but on the way back into the U.S. they are really terrible. You feel like you are going through interegation and you've done something wrong and have to crap really badly all of the sudden. This time was no different and I knew I would screw up. The border guard quickly fired off 6 questions in a menacing tone not giving me anytime to answer: "What were you doing in Canada? Where are you from? How long were you there? What illegal substances do you have in the car? Did you buy anything in Canada? How do you (in the car) know each other?" He had asked me where I lived too and I mistakenly said Shelburne Vermont and not Boston because I was nervous and after my roommate had said Boston and I had answered we knew eachother because we lived together, it didn't quite add up and we had to get out of the car while my roommate (who's from Ecuador) recieved an additional 30 minutes of questioning. While these questions might seem easy, put in the right context and with the right tone of voice it's really intimidating even when you've done nothing wrong.

Summer begins

It really is great that the sun is out, baseballs are flying, and we are on our way...

This past week was bike to work week and even though I work way out in the boonies (West Bridgewater, MA) I was able to borrow my roommates old rickety bike and do the 28 miles back each way on Thursday. My legs were dead but it was an interesting experience, also a sad one as I realized that this would really be impossible to do on any regular basis.

The ride in itself was uneventful but coming back I found a parking ticket (street cleaning) on my car and couldn't believe it - not because I got one, this is probably my 7th ticket or so since moving here, but because I had forgotten about my car specifically because I biked that day. This was sadly ironic.

Speaking of sadly ironic, just a few days later I was playing tennis at the MIT tennis courts and noticed afterwards that a joyous barbecue was taking place so I went by and was offered hot dogs, chips, drinks, the whole works (I sweat I didn't even try to fit in as a student, although I guess I already do - small, dorky, and Jewish). I wasn't going to say no and so I partook and enjoyed a free afternoon of food and drink on M.I.T. But was it really on M.I.T.? The more I thought about the more I realized how college tuition is so high these days and some portion of our parent's tuition money is being channeled into places like this and ending up in the mouth's of the wrong people - like me. I guess you could say the same thing about a thousand budgeted items at a college and all of the student organizations which serve no purpose except to have their own bbq's and partake in the fun and enjoyment of redirecting a small portion of our parent's tuition money towards our fun. Yeh college

10 cavities

No, I didn't actually think this was possible, but today I found out I have 10 cavities when I paid (which will soon also be litteral) the dentist a visit after taking a year of absence. I know you probably don't care about my teeth but I just need a minute to complain here about the problem of incentive structures in this world. Obviously, every dentist has a different opinion over what constitutes a problem or something that actually needs fixing sooner rather than later. Dentists, like mechanics, stand to gain when they have more work and problems to fix.

Luckily, I DO NOT work on commission in sales for Equal Exchange so this problem really is avoided. I don't even get bonuses at Christmas. That way if some one is being a jerk or wants to bring in our coffee for the wrong reasons I can even say no (although yes in a small unnoticeable way my individual patronage rebate goes up slightly with each sale). But I would say this incentive based work structure - the "earn your keep" model that fuels most of America and has CEO's earning mega million dollar bonuses to sell sub-prime morgages in irresponsible manners is clearly not sustainable even if it does induce most recent college grads to work their asses off for an extra couple hundred dollars a week in exchange for having no life. There has to be some middle ground...Alpha, the alternative learning program in grades 6-8 that I went through where we each just set our own goals seemed to work just fine. Those of us with little ambition did little and for people that actually wanted to learn it was a great environment. And in the end, everyone knows, you can't beat a dead horse, or maybe that's the wrong expression, what I meant to say is some people will work hard and others won't and incentives, while well intentioned, often produce unexpected and additional results to the primary purpose.

So with all of that being said and a good rant out of my system, you might think I'm being cynical and over-the-top but I'm not. As I was leaving the dentist today, they sold me a tube of prescription tooth-paste for $15 - can I get a second opinion on this? I mean common!