Dom and I were in Reston, VA a few weeks ago for another one of his doll conventions. He said it would be his last one but I'm skeptical. The cost to have a second person attend the conference was a bit too high since it wasn't something I enjoyed. So instead I had the few days to myself enjoying the D.C. area.
I spent half of Day 2 traveling in the Metro to Washington D.C. My final destination was the National Museum of African American History and Culture. Free tickets to the museum could be obtained online by selecting a time and adding some minor personal information. There was quite a crowd of folks at the museum. It was a surreal experience seeing the history of slavery and freedom from 1400 onwards.
There were many interesting stories but one that stood out was the story of an enslaved woman named Belinda. Of African descent, she petitioned the Massachusetts legislature in 1783 for her freedom. She shared her harrowing story of being kidnapped in Africa and sold into slavery. Her story moved the legislative group into granting her a pension, which served as one of the earliest recorded examples of reparations for being enslaved.
It was also cool reading brief snippets of free slaves who managed to make lives for themselves post-slavery, including the purchase of property.
There was also a replica of a segregated train car from the 1940's via Southern Railway Company. Of course the whites-only sections were more spacious including for any suitcases whereas the colored-only section spaces were cramped and smaller spaces for suitcases. There were also separate water coolers for whites vs colored.
There were also highlights from the 1960's, 1970's, and beyond that were on display. There was a dedicated section for Barack Obama, the United States first black president. Overall it was a good 1 1/2 hours spent.
After the museum, I walked a bit around D.C. before hopping back on the Metro and heading to Pentagon City Fashion Centre mall directly off the Pentagon City Metro Stop. Being at the mall bought back memories of my time living in D.C. in the mid 90's. I was pleasantly surprised the mall was still there. I'm guessing being a direct stop on the Metro no doubt helped its longevity.
I texted Sally a picture of the mall and she quickly remembered it as our old stomping grounds. Sally and I first met at our alma mater University of Detroit Mercy. We met during both of our last semester. I was obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in Computer Science while Sally was obtaining Master of Science in Computer Information Science. We both had a mutual friend which was how we met. Our meeting in a computer lab was our only meeting.
Little did we know that we both would end up working for the same now defunct consulting company and sat next to each other during our two month long orientation. We befriended a few folks including a lady named Blanche (her real first name). She was starting her "second career" as a Programmer Analyst. She retired after 25 years working at Ma Bell.
She became a "mother figure" to Sally and me. I have many fond memories with Blanche when we both were contracted at Bell Atlantic in Maryland. Our old company had the habit of forcing employees to "relocate" since it was cheaper for them than paying for a hotel short-term. They would tell us that a project was 3 months (the minimum time that relocating was required) only to find out that the contract ended after a week or two.
Blanche had a harrowing experience where she was told by her project manager that there was a project in New York. She was not thrilled about going there since NY is pretty expensive. They told her that the project would be 3 months and she needed to break her lease with the apartment she lived in. They placed her in a motel with hourly rates. She was horrified and demanded her project manager place her in a proper hotel. That was rectified but the experience left her stressed. What was worse was the project fell through so she had no place to go. Luckily her apartment in Maryland was still available so she was able to move back in.
I remember during my time at Bell Atlantic, the manager there wanted to offer me a job. Accepting a job with a client is a no-no and could get you in trouble. I remember talking about it with Blanche in one of the two smoking areas (she smoked). While we were discussing the situation, the manager in question decided to come out for his smoke break. Blanche remarked afterwards that the manager must've been trying to listen in since he normally smoked in the other section...LOL. I ended up not accepting the job offer as I wasn't sure I necessarily wanted to live in the Maryland/D.C. area. We soon found another place to have private chats.
When I eventually found a new job (the one I stayed at for 20 years before being laid-off and bitched about in my old blog...LOL), the project manager was very pissed at me since he said he had another assignment for me. He said that I would not get paid for my time-off that I didn't use. I actually had a lot of time-off I didn't use up to that time. I remember thinking they could fuck off and I didn't need their money. But Blanche was instrumental in convincing me to fight for that since I earned it. She suggested I write to the president and chief financial officer of the company and ask for my money, explaining all that I've gone through during my time there. Writing that letter worked and I got paid for my time-off.
Another funny story was when Blanche, Sally, and I were traveling to Detroit in Blanche's car. We needed to stop for gas a little more than halfway through our trip. For some reason I only decided to get $20 worth of gas which only filled the tank about halfway. When I told her what I did, she snapped and said 'boy, you better fill that tank'. I was shocked but laughed since I knew she was right.
After Sally and I left that company, I believe Blanche stayed on with the company. She sadly passed away in 2000. I still smile though when I think about that time in my life. Visiting the D.C. area definitely bought back memories.
My third day in the area I decided to check out the MGM National Harbor casino. It was interesting seeing the area around the casino seemed ghetto. I saw security bars on a lot of the first floor buildings which was all I needed to know. But the casino itself was nice. I enjoyed some lunch at an Asian fusion restaurant called Ginger. The food was pricey (though what isn't these days) but good. I donated to the casino of course but it was okay.
Dom meantime enjoyed his time at the convention. The only bad part seemed to be the food. Basically a lot of it was dry and flavorless. I'm glad I had some delicious meals including a lobster roll. Overall it was a good trip for us.
My next trip will be to Boston to hang with Eugene.
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