OMG blog. What a week. I know there were other things I wanted to post about, and then I went into SOS, and I have no memory prior to it. What is SOS? It is the basic training program all Seph0ra employees attend (ideally), that teaches the basics of skincare, complexion, makeup, and client service. It is what I went to T the T in March to be able to teach. And boy did I teach. I worked 53 hours in 4 days, and that does not include the 4 hours a night that I prepared for my following day's presentations. Hello sleep deprivation.
And it was a success. I had a great time, the participants had a great time, and we all learned a lot. I always come away from a week of education refreshed in an exhausted-to-the-bones way. The education program is by far the best thing about this company. That is where the best people are, the best practices are, the best spirit is. And I get to go back and do another in about a week. Because I am good at this.
And before that, I am moving! That's right, I'm moving down to 163rd. We hate our landlords, and we are ditching them. I'll be saving some money and living in a nicer place because Sarah and I are sharing a room. And I feel great about it. I do not feel great about the actual packing and moving. AND it will be a vast improvement. Hello west side of Broadway. Hello white people. Hello nights without my cosmetic table reverberating with the bass. Hello less cockroaches and a Super in the building. Hello to quiet, book-filled existence.
Hello 5th floor walk-up. Yikes. (Why is this apartment so expensive?!) AND, no worries, I am still saving money by sharing a room. This place is cute guys. Who wants to help me walk boxes from 172nd to 163rd? I have a week to do it.
9 comments:
"AND it will be a vast improvement. Hello west side of Broadway. Hello white people."
Wow. That's offensive.
You try living on 172nd and Amsterdam for 6 months and see if you don't want to move away from the loudest people on earth (not to mention other characteristics). I appreciate cultural identity, do your thing, I just won't always want to live right in the middle of the epitome of it.
And trust me, living in Kenya is not the same.
I was not about to suggest that living in Kenya would be "the same" although having spent your week there in tourist resorts hardly qualifies you to dismiss my experience of 3+ years.
Is your SA trip still on, I wonder?
I had actually pointed out the unfortunate parallel because I thought you might want to re-write it, but you have made it quite clear that it actually reflects how you feel. Good to know.
PS--maybe it's because your only previous apartment-living experience has been student housing in UT, but I imagine you will find out soon enough that neighbors of all colors and cultures can be equally annoying. Maybe NYC is not your thing.
I also believe that your living on 172nd and Amsterdam, or Washington Heights, or NYC for 0 time at all does not quite qualify you to judge my experience here.
OBVIOUSLY anyone of any culture or color can be equally as annoying. I happen to reside in a pocket where everyone but me is the same culture and color, and they have some common characteristics which are both positive and inconvenient. I am positive you would agree if you lived here. In my previous statement, I was more welcoming the thought of cultural diversity, than living in all one culture. Because cultural diversity will bring a diversity of behavior and habit, so one won't be all-consuming, and all-consumingly inconvenient.
I would hope that you would have a more open mind than to write me off because of one statement which could be interpreted multiple ways if you were not determined to think the worst of me.
Who is doing the writing off? I actually think I have a very good idea of the environment in which you live, clearly you don't agree, but NYC and it's many facets is one of the most documented places on earth. (Not to mention that we lived in a suburb of NYC during a period of our family in which you did not exist--so I don't blame you for not remembering). Not to mention my visits to siblings who have lived in the city since 2003. And of course, my fantastic imagination.
Really, I have a pretty good idea of how your neighborhood works. I just think that rather than blaming your neighbors for being who they are, you should perhaps take issue with yourself for choosing to live someplace you couldn't be happy. I realize you depended on others but...maybe that wasn't the best idea. Live and learn.
Wow, Laura, somebody apparently thinks you should be psychic and know how you're going to like things before you even try them. And depending on others? NEVER DO THAT! WE ARE ALL ALONE! APOCALYPSE! Also, you're totally stupid - I can't believe you're even able to dress yourself. Oh, you have a job and a college degree and you support yourself? No, that can't be right...
So basically you're totally dumb, but you should also know everything. Check and CHECK.
Rebecca--it's so nice to have another opinion. Believe me, Laura needs no help at all to dismiss any ideas from a family member (I've known Laura since the day she was born, changed her diapers, lived with her for more than a decade, and followed her career closely; you?) in favor of a friend who jumps in to save the day.
Laura need not have been psychic, she had, in fact, visited our sisters who lived on 152nd on more than one occasion where she would have encountered the behavior she now claims is driving her from her neighborhood. I think knowing yourself well enough to know where you will be comfortable living is part of being an adult, not a super-power.
I did not question Laura's intellect, nor did I judge her choice--I simply took issue with her articulation of her own conclusion and actions. Laura was quite aggressive in her response and felt very free to tell me I had no idea what I was talking about. She also thought I might be the kind of girl to "write off" a sibling (wrong) and to want to think the worst of her.
Who needs defending? Neither of us. Methinks you might have been the one who was "out of line" but I am very liberal. Comment away. Just be ready to be wrong.
Since this is a public blog, I'm fairly certain I'm not out of line commenting on it. You certainly aren't shy about leaving your less than positive opinion about Laura here, so why should I be shy about leaving my opinion?
And in my experience, family members are often the ones who know us the least as adults. Nope, I haven't changed her diapers, so I guess I'm not as familiar with her vagina as you are, but I know her as an adult, with no expectations or preconceived notions based on 5-year-old or 10-year-old or 15-year-old Laura.
As Laura has been MORE than clear about, her neighborhood is very specific. She's moving from 172nd to 163rd, which is quite the difference when it comes to culture and, more importantly to Laura, I think, NOISE. If 172nd to 163rd makes that big of a difference, then I imagine visiting a sister on 152nd is not actually as similar as you think it is to where Laura currently lives.
And what, exactly, am I wrong about? The fact that I apparently have a higher opinion of Laura's capabilities as an adult than you do? That I actually think her remarks have more to do with a good night's sleep than with racism? That I don't think she needs to be bullied and bossed by an older sister? (As an older sister myself, I recognize the MO.)
Comment away on this public blog - just be prepared to understand that I'm not your kid sister and I'm not falling for your well-articulated condescension.
Ok. Wow. After this last comment, I hereby turn the comments off, because it's my blog, and I can do that.
Needly things have been said. Unnecessarily so. I am going to leave that at that.
And my one last effort to explain myself to Emily: You have not lived on my block, so I'm just going to ask you to go out on a limb and TRUST ME ON THIS ONE. This block is not the same as the one on the other side of Broadway, and 20 blocks south that our sisters lived on previously. If you had spent months living in NYC you would quickly learn that a matter of blocks can make a huge difference in your living situation, shopping situation, eating situation, safety situation, what have you. I, of course, visited 152nd many times while our sisters lived there, and it is, indeed, different in noise, character, and diversity. As Erin's new residence on 181st, a mere 9 blocks north, and west of Broadway, is completely different from my block as well. I am removing myself from my current block for the plethora of reasons I elaborated on in a more recent post. In this post, I was celebrating my move, not railing about how I have been driven from my neighborhood. And I'm pretty sure this is what normal adults do when they move to NY, they move around until they can settle somewhere. Some basic human considerations are not attended to in my current location, so I'm leaving. The end.
As to your disagreement with how I perceived your comment; I suggest that in the future you take care with your words, as this is not the first time I have perceived you as unnecessarily negative. I guess that tends to provoke a similar response in me, and I apologize if I have offended or hurt you, as I can relate to how unpleasant that feels.
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