I love the Midwest!

I'm in Milwaukee for that one latin program with the pope's latinist... People really are so much nicer here.

When I biked over to the grocery store and was locking up my bike in the bikerack, this older (white) lady was waiting to get her bike, and so I was all nice and was like, "Oh, I'm sorry, I hope I'm not in your way!", and she was like, "Oh no, not at all, you're not at all... Or you won't be right after I knock you out!"

Then, somehow she started telling me about her new young boyfriend who teaches people how to boat at the local yacht club, and how people under 62 aren't allowed to live in her building, and she's hoping that they don't put up a sign that he'll see when he comes to visit her.

"How old is he?!?!?", I was like.

"Oh, 60, I think," she said.

Later, I was at the drugstore and I couldn't find the coffee filters - turns out they weren't by the coffee! - and the fro'd up young (black) guy working the cash register was really nice and directed me, and then when I came up to check out, he was like, "Find them, bro?"

Also, when I arrived, I had my bike in a bikebox - it's $5 to check and $15 to buy the box, and I'm going to use it all summer - and I asked the train people if I could throw it out, since it was too big to take to my summer apartment.

"We could keep it for you, if you want," the one younger (black) rail clerk said, and when I told him that I was leaving at the very end of July, he told me that they do that for people who come up with their bikes for a couple weeks, so what's the difference for a couple months, they have the room.

So, I did that, and wrote my cell phone on their to call me if they had any questions. And, I wrote on there to give it away rather than throw it out, in case anyone needed a bikebox, because I'd hate to see it go to waste.