Leaving home (a late epiphany)

I didn’t expect I wasn’t coming back that day I left home. I only had a few set of clothes and a luggage full of baby things. With the baby in tow, I was so excited to see a new world and didn’t even think of glancing back. It never occurred to me I won’t be seeing the place for such a long time.

When I arrived in Detroit, the first greeting I received from a personnel in the airport was unpleasant. She called me stupid for using the escalator with my baby in the stroller. I appreciated her concern, but the elevator was full of sick people in wheelchairs. And I only wanted to get to my destination as fast as I can. It was a 17-hr flight, and with a baby on my hands, my energy was draining to the very last of its existence.

Another flight and few minutes in the air, the captain announced our arrival in New Jersey. And I finally threw myself to my husband’s arms while my mother-in-law gladly carried her grandson.

Just then, I realized I was already in an unfamiliar territory. People were more polite (unlike that woman in Detroit) and everyone stops to smile at the baby. This is a place where baby car seats are a necessity, seat belts are required, and you can never just turn around whenever you miss an exit. And, as I learned in Detroit—babies in strollers should be put in an elevator, never in an escalator!

Oh, and no comfort rooms here--only restrooms and bathrooms; no ref, just fridge; no officemate but colleague or workmate; no coke light, but diet coke! There are so many things I really need to get used to.

One of the greatest things of being here though, are the refills! And, I get to be anything I want to be--with a fresh start, and no one expecting me to be something else.