Friday, August 31, 2001

Today at work I saw a policewoman standing just off of the curb in the crosswalk when it was not the pedestrians' turn to cross. She was directing three women to Cole Hall, and all four of them were standing in the street there. Then, out of nowhere, a MUNI bus appeared and needed to pull in to the bus stop nearby. It honked at the women, and they stepped back a few steps—but not up on the sidewalk. (Where is the justice?) Today at lunch I asked the woman behind the counter at Panda Express, "Do you know what the noodles are made of? Is it wheat or egg or something else?" And she replied, "Oh! I can give you half and half." (Presumably, the most common question in her robotlike job is whether someone can get half of the chow mein and half of the fried rice instead of all of either one. "Anothah-ihtem-fo-won-dolla-mo'?-Thaaankyouuu!") She was never able to adequately answer my question, even after fighting with her co-worker in Chinese about it. Dinner at Jitra: garlic prawns, musmun beef, steamed rice.