Change is always good, and change in the spirit of improvement is always nice, but, please, don’t muck things up! Don’t mess with my stuff, I’m telling ya…
So I was coming up the U Street escalator bracing to freeze my man-tits off, speed dialing TGI Thai because there was no way I was going to cook last night, and paused to place my order in the shelter of the new monstrosity that’s sprouted up on the corner of 13th and U above the metro. Shit that building is fugly - like an industrial/corporate park office center in Rockville. And it went up so fast! It's like someone took a big dump on that corner. And I see they are putting in a Quizmo's – like we really need more of that greasey shit. All this crap about historic preservation and the new U… are the city planners on crack?!? When I skip to work each day, I think, oh this neighborhood has charm, folks are sprucing it up, someday it will be this multi-cultural paradise with vibrant street life, restored architecture, and creative small businesses. Not too cute, with an urban edge. And then I see this new concrete - well I suppose it has brick, but the boring, crappy kind - and tinted brown glass shoddy piece of shit and early and suddenly my optimism turns into cyncism and despair and I get cranky.
So I call TGI Thai and place my order. The girl sounds kind of unfamiliar on the phone. I’m pretty good about cooking for myself (large semi-nutritious dishes that will last for a good couple of days) and when fending solo I always do take out from TGI Thai or Pizzaboli’s. I’m a creature of habit that way. And always order the same thing.
So when I arrive at hole-in-the-wall TGI Thai to pick up my usual Pad Thai, I notice something is amiss – they’ve changed the décor a bit, perhaps. And when the unfamiliar girl rings up my order and charges me too much, I’m like, shit, they’ve raised their prices. I only liked them because they were cheap. No, actually, their Pad Thai is really good.
And then a notice a sign that they are under new management. Dammit, I really liked the sweet lady and her family who ran it before. We always chatted and she invited me to a Thai celebration and gave her a pirated copy of Suriyothai. Really messes up my life this new management.
And Pizzaboli’s, several months ago, turned into Ducchini’s and that pissed me off. But actually it is the same pizza and they didn’t raise their prices. I don’t know why they changed the name anyway – especially after the lame-o glossy rag the Washingtonian rated it the best pizza in DC (which it is NOT, bytw).
So I got used to that, and I’m sure I’ll get used to the new TGI Thai. And the Pad Thai was different but not bad.
Last night I finally met one of the mysterious new neighbors. I was out back having a smoke and I heard a terrible shriek. This nebbish looking white girl was taking out the trash next door. “I saw a rat!!! Did you know that they have rats here?!!!…” Oh, honey….please!
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