Journal Entry #26 β First Night in Connecticut
Hi Journal!
Well, I have another one for you! I'm in New Haven, Connecticut, scouting colleges (or at least that was the excuse I gave Daddy for the trip. It's my first real trip out completely on my own, which I think is important at this point of my life.
Enough boring stuff, you know why I'm here.
Yesterday I drove into Connecticut from New York. The roads here are so pretty, but the freeways (they call them highways) are miserable! I swear I never saw more than two lanes each way! They do have these cool little places where you can exit to get McD's and gas and then pull right back on to the road. I wish we had more of those back home.
I got into New Haven after passing through a nasty looking place called Bridgeport (more on that later) and eventually found my hotel.
I checked in and went up to my room where I unpacked, took a looooong bath, and then took a nap. When I got up I was so hungry, so I threw on some shorts and a tank with sneakers and went down to ask where I could get some food. The clerk (cute, but more later) told me about the hotel restaurant, but I asked him about other places. He gave me directions to a diner near "the Common" which was nearby.
I guess it was nearly four, and the streets were pretty crowded. This didn't look like too good of a neighborhood, and I started to get worried, but then figured the buildings and streets were just old, not bad.
I noticed that all of the girls were dressed in skirts and they all wore tights. Not going to see that in California any time soon! I couldn't figure out why, since it wasn't even cold, but I guess it's just the fashion.
I found the little restaurant the clerk had told me about and went inside. I didn't have to wait too long for a table, and the food was excellent. The service wasn't great, but maybe I just got a bad waitress.
Anyway, when I finished I went back out and down the street, where I found a great big park right in the middle of everything, surrounded by buildings and the University. I decided that this was where I was going to run the next morning, and I visited a few bookstores just to see what was up.
I was looking through the magazines when I saw this guy looking at me. He was at least 6'4", built like a football player, and had long shaggy brown hair and a long beard and mustache. He was dressed in a flannel shirt over a T-shirt and jeans, and he smiled at me with the biggest, most beautiful smile I'd seen in a long time.
His big brown puppy-dog eyes were so soft and full of warmth that I couldn't help but stop and smile back at him. When I did he stopped smiling and looked down, and then shuffled away.
I saw that he was heading for the counter, so I grabbed a couple of magazines and chased after him. I guess I wasn't paying too much attention because I found out later in the hotel that I bought an issue of Guns & Ammo and Field & Stream. I got into line behind him and waited patiently before dropping one of my magazines next to him.
Being the gentleman I knew he would be, he stooped and picked it up and then turned to hand it to me, getting a long look up my legs and past my chest at my smiling face. After a second I crouched down with him and took the magazine and said thank you. He laughed really loudly, a pleasant strong laugh, and he stood up. His eyes were twinkling when he said, "You're very welcome!"
I told him my name, and he said his was Jeff. I told him that I was in town to visit the University and I asked him if he was a student. He confirmed that he was, but of the community college just a little ways from New Haven.
I asked him what he did, and he blushed. I expected him to say he worked in a porn shop or something, but he said he worked in a comic book shop.
I said that was cool, and he looked like I had just took the world's troubles away from him. I looked at the book he was carrying and it was some kind of paperback about Batman. I asked him if Batman was his favorite. THE Batman, he corrected me, and then he went on to tell me that his favorite character was Hulk. I told him I saw the TV show on reruns, and he said that it wasn't like that at all.
Just when he got to the front of the line I asked him why he liked Hulk, and he looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Sometimes it feels good to see the big guy cut loose and let out all of his feelings, and nothing can stop him, you know?" I got wet and my legs went weak in the knees.
After I bought my magazines I raced out and saw him walking (it really did look like he was shambling, but how do you describe that?) across the street and into the park. It took me a minute to get across the street because of traffic, but once I got across I went running after him as fast as I could.
I found him sitting back against a tree reading the paperback and he looked surprised when I ran up.
"Are you stalking me?" he asked, looking bewildered.