The Next Step

Some random thoughts regarding August 31/September 1 in Boston:

• On the T yesterday (which was a little more crowded than usual), an older woman talking with a friend on her cell phone commented “The darling students are back,” as we watched a few U-Haul and Penske trucks go by. “The economy demands it.”
• I was walking to Lee’s market today with Lauren because she needed to load up her Charlie Card. We were both wearing our Red Sox hats and waiting to cross Allston street when some jackass leaned out the passenger side window of a car and yelled “Go Red Sox!!!1″ to us (loosely translated to bloggish) I replied “You must be new to this city.”
• If you ever need furniture and aren’t overly concerned with quality, the last week of August is the time to get it. Just get yourself a truck and drive around Allston and Brighton inspecting the
  
  sidewalks. There is an unbelievable selection of free furniture simply left behind by apathetic and unprepared college students.
• This neighborhood isn’t exactly known as the cleanest one in Boston, but during the last week, it has been absolutely disgusting. All the vermin have been displaced from the just-vacated apartments they were living in, all the dumpsters are full and have piles of trash stacked around them, and sidewalks are hard to walk on between the sheer volume of garbage piled on them and the moving trucks parked haphazardly on the curb.