That Bad Mood

I’ve never been to New Jersey before and I was looking forward to starting my new job in a new place. Now that I have arrived, the bottom has dropped out of my optimism. I flew in a day early to give myself some time to get around and figure out my way around this place. About four hours after stepping off the plane at Newark Liberty Airport, my attitude became quite foul. The traffic is atrocious and I’m not one for getting road rage. I can usually turn up the music and sing my way through the traffic jams. Not here. It could take awhile to get used to the way the exits and U-turns are arranged. And just so you know, a U-turn here is not really a U-turn. It’s a loop. Where I’m from, a U-turn is actually shaped like a U.

I got here on yesterday (Saturday) and had dinner at the hotel. After finally finding this hotel, I was not about to venture back out into the unknown, but as the hotel is right next to a mall I figured all would be good for the rest of the weekend. To my surprise this morning, I found the mall and just about everything else around here CLOSED. I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a mall closed on a Sunday. It’s been years, probably over a decade. What century have I gotten pulled into? I drove around for over an hour today before I found a Boston Market open where I could get food. I’m waiting for the hotel to bring me a fridge before I venture into the one grocery store that I saw. I found it shortly before I found that Boston Market. I was happy to find a CVS were I could pick up a couple of things that I forgot but I have to say the staff there was a little on the rude side. So far, there have been no random smiles. I don’t like to get into comparing the North and South, but when someone makes eye contact with you on the street, we typically smile in the South. Not here.

I wasn’t able to fit any knitting in my suitcase so I was hoping to find somewhere (like a Michael’s or Hobby Lobby) to buy some needles and sock yarn. No luck. If I had, it would probably have been a Hobby Lobby since they are closed on Sunday. Fits the apparent theme of this place.

I’m assuming this place will come to life tomorrow when the mall is opened and everyone heads to work. I hope the people I’ll be working with are nice and pleasant and can point me to some eating places around here, because right now I’m not seeing many choices. The hotel has a nice restaurant which I absolutely love, but if you’ve ever been to a Bone Fish Grill then you know it’s not the most economical place to eat every day for a 14 day hotel stay.

Pray for me people! I’m in need of an attitude turn-around. And to all of you living in a place that is turning your mood foul, please move. Just pack up right now and move. The world could be a much better place for us all if we weren’t living in places that made us miserable.