At Least Four

The next day my mother and I took the 14 bus out to the mall. I needed shoes for my interview the next day and we couldn't find a place in the more downtown area. It was interesting taking the bus in a new city. I think my mother and I were almost the only white people on our way out and way back in. That's just different from my experiences in Chicago where there's usually a mix of at least three if not many more races on the buses and trains...or at least on the routes I go on. Savannah, I think without really knowing, seems to be a more straightforwardly racially divided city than Chicago (not to say that Chicago is without its racial issues...listen to all my qualifications and explanations, my goodness). I could be wrong, I was only there for three days.

Finding shoes was quite the challenge and it took us longer than either of us really wanted but we were relatively triumphant in the end. Then as we made our way to the bus stop we saw the bus we wanted pull in and pull out before we could even think about running for it...not that either of us really run. It was, as I may have mentioned, hot as Satan's bum and the stop had very little shade...just a tiny patch in the midst of a rather squalid palm tree. As we waited the fifteen minutes or so for a new bus we got to see at least four (if not six) of these airforce airplanes come in for landing...well we didn't see them land. I liked to think that they were bringing soldiers home from Iraq...but then I couldn't help but add a thought like this: just so they can go back again for another 15 months. For all I know they were full of oatmeal rations and bug spray.