The Good Samaritan

The good Samaritan is a pretty well-known parable of Jesus. It tells the story of a traveling man from Jerusalem to Jericho who is mugged: his money and cloak are stolen and he is left to die on the side of a road. A priest walks by and immediately moves to the other side and doesn't help. The next man, a Levite (a part of the holy tribe of Israel) walks to the other side of the road and doesn't help either. The third man, a lowly Samaritan takes pity on the man and dresses his wounds in expensive supplies. He even pays to put the man in an inn and covers all his expenses until he is well. This is Jesus' interpretation of a true neighbor, and the way to inherit eternal life.

9:30 at night. Pitch black, raining and in the middle of nowhere--with a flat tire. I was just thinking earlier that day that I was so fortunate to have no car problems so far. I guess pretending to be a New York City taxi driver in heavy construction was a silly idea to my poor old front tires. While I was at a Burger King trying to figure out what to do, a group of people who, by the way they were dressed, I could tell were very religious. I don't want to give away what religion it was as I think it might be unfair to the group as a whole, but I was NOT IMPRESSED.

They watched me try to put a can of fix-a-flat in my tire before the several-years-old can exploded chemicals all over my face, eyes and clothes.
They then watched me empty my trunk, only covering for a few moments my very out of state license plate, to get out a spare tire.
They watched me struggle to see what i was doing in the dark.
They knew I was a young female, in the dark, and alone far from home.
Even so, as one man returned to his truck, he walked briskly by with his head down to pretend he didn't see me. Another lady commented on how annoying it was raining before heading to her car.

Finally, I went up to them to ask them where a tire shop was. They had no answer. "How about Sears?" I asked. "Yes, but they aren't open til 10 tomorrow." "I'll just wait in my car then." I responded and they walked away without even a goodbye. Thank God I have an awesome boyfriend who taught me basic car care so I can function on my own. In the parking lot of an industrial area in front of an independent tire repair shop, I lay half the night shivering and worrying about another flash flood or police and also pondering the story of the good Samaritan. I never really believed a devote person to any religion would fail to help a stranger in need. Why would someone dress in such a manner that it was obvious what their beliefs were, and then fail to adhere to those very edicts? I felt like crying not because I was in dire need, because I managed just fine, but because I COULD have been and I was ignored.

Too bad in Pennsylvania there aren't any Samaritans!

(I suffered many chigger bites that are all over me now to get this stupid picture and none of them really turned out so dang it... one is going on this blog to make it worth it)

Homeless in the Northeast

It was sometime during my shower at a ranger station in Massachusetts that I began to wonder. What was the series of events that led me to being 25, living out of my car with no clean laundry or shower for a week and having forest service workers offering me boxes of granola bars and armfuls of water bottles because they thought me to be homeless? Where did I go wrong??

All I needed was a shower. I spent 6 nights in a row in my car which would have been fine, but I was set to do interviews in Boston and I probably smelled. Not the best for getting people to talk to you. In Pennsylvania, a homeless person complimented how clean I was for being homeless ("I never said I was homeless..." I responded sadly) and a couple tried to hand me money when I asked them to fill out a survey. Sad day, I didn't think I looked THAT bad. Anyway, after 5 nights in a car I thought that it was a good idea to get a motel room and have a real shower but Boston is the most expensive city to get hotels in. 100 dollars a night for a Super 8! Are you kidding me?? I would rather sleep in my car and shower at a state park the next morning. Which I was all set to do--until I found out the campground was closed. I'm on a time schedule so even though they kindly tried to direct me to another state park, I was pooped and whiny. A police officer had knocked on my window (again) in the middle of the night to check me out. Thankfully he let me stay but it disturbed my sleep. The night before I was not bothered by anyone, but it was so cold I was waking up every hour or so.

A kind state park worker from Rock Hill, SC took pity on me and arranged for me to shower at the park. I was SO GRATEFUL. He saved me 30 dollars in parking fees and the time and gas to get to the other state park. And his kindness didn't stop there, he offered to take me out to breakfast and we had a good time chatting about wildlife and hunting. Speaking of people from Rock Hill, SC, the couple that took me in and we had SUCH a great time talking, I LOST THEIR INFO. REV. and MRS. STEIN if you are reading this PLEASE email me!! I have a thank you note ready to go but no address to send it to :(

With a shower and clean clothes, I was ready to start my interviews in the Boston area. One thing people in Boston all had in common: MEANNESS. I hope to NEVER visit the city again or get even close. After only 10 minutes of attempting surveys, I almost cried. When people would ignore me or just say "I don't want any." Finally I just started yelling at them as they walked briskly by, "I AM NOT SELLING ANYTHING!!! I'M JUST A STUDENT!" Not a good idea to continue I was acting like a crazy person. Despite how upset I was, I continued searching for people for 4 hours. After that 4 hours, I only got ELEVEN surveys. ELEVEN!!! I stopped a postal worker to ask him where the friendly part of Boston was. "Friendly part of Boston?" He responded in all seriousness, "Oh honey, there's no friendly part of Boston. You are completely out of luck. There's not a nice person in this whole city." Not only was Boston tiring for trying to talk to people, but the driving there was the worst so far in the country, behind Seattle and San Antonio. Utter chaos!!

So that night, I stayed in a 2 bedroom suite in the heart of Providence, RI in a beautiful section of town for the same price as a motel 6 in the area. (50 dollars as compared to 240 for the original price, thank you Charlie for booking it!) I enjoyed my free morning coffee in the sunshine from my balcony, people watching at the cafes below.

Danbury, CT was much better probably because I got a real shower and a place to sleep the night before...and because they weren't from Boston. A super kind yet walking stereotype as he was a hot dog vendor named Tony from Brookyln bought me a hot dog and chatted with me for a while. After wandering around, I ended up at a downtown cafe. The people of the New York/Boston area are so very different from Seattleites or Southerners. They are loud, in your face, sarcastic, and blunt. Even so, I enjoyed this friendly culture and had a good time talking with people. Almost everyone had a snarky comment about happiness and 100% of the interviewees commented on how awful of a place Danbury is. I even had a crowd of high school boys crowding around me begging to fill out surveys. What a refreshing change from Boston!

Then, I was off to visit my friend and coteacher I met in Taiwan who loves New York and Brooklyn with a passion. She's the only person I know who would say, 'I wish you were on the subway with me today! There was a crazy man running around with a knife trying to stab people...!" Sadly I only got to stay for a night and she was crazy busy so we didn't get too much time to hang out.

Driving through New York City is like playing a video game with incredible graphics and it was AMAZING. This morning I felt like making a U-Turn and going back into the city so I could weave through traffic and speed around again, carefully avoiding pedestrians and merging vehicles. Next life: Taxi driver in the big city for sure

Now I'm heading to upstate New York and am gradually heading my way back home. Thanks again to all those who donated and hosted me along the way, there is no way I could have done this without you. By the way, hiking in the Appalachian mountains was so beautiful. I could have stayed in Vermont and New Hampshire forever!

10,000 Miles and Counting

Statistics as of 9/14/2011:

View Happiness Ahead Project in a larger map
*10,029 miles driven in 38 days
*Average 264 miles every day
*5 hr 15 minutes driving a day (not including stops and in-town speed limits)
*24 trips to the gas station
*Cheapest gas: Oklahoma @ 3.23/gal
*Most expensive gas: New York @4.55/gal (I cried)
*Around 400 people in 18 cities in 18 states interviewed
*31 states visited

The sad thing is, I still have 13 more cities to visit. According to Google maps, from Orange, NJ to Bellevue, WA is 5,100 miles. That's if I stick to the main high ways (shudder) and take no detours. A long way to go!

Next entry: Experiences in the beautiful Appalachian mountains of New Hampshire, confusion with several people thinking I'm homeless, me yelling at strangers in Boston, and weaving the streets of Brooklyn, New York like I've been doing it for years.

Amish Paradise

Even though I had completely given up on seeing any Amish in Pennsylvania, I was still hoping to creepy stalk in Ohio or Iowa. Driving in upstate New York, so far north the border was only a few miles away, I did not expect to see a horse and buggy parked in front of a gas station. Immediately my creepy stalking began. A lucky donor will receive a jar of homemade apple butter I bought from a young Amish mother. Just having a roadside interaction was not satisfying so I decided to take some back roads. Finally after some direction I ended up quite far off the highway to talk with a man who directed me to his Amish friend. "Tell him Rally sent ya to check things out and tell John if he doesn't give you a tour, then Rally's gonna come up there and kick his butt." I laughed and headed in the direction I was told to go.

Remember, I am an INFJ. NOT an ENFJ. (google your 4-letter result and click on the personality page description of your personality) Going up to talking to a stranger is really difficult for me...especially to try to ask them to let me in their house!! One time, when I accidentally let slip my secret creepy admiration of the Amish, my friend responded with, "I'm waiting for the punchline." No punchline.

I noticed it was the right house right away because his was the one with ramps along every entrance. Out in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York, this was not the typical tourist destination so to have a stranger walk up to your house was an event. The girls, all dressed in long blue dresses with dark green or purple aprons and navy blue bonnets covering their long, fair hair, immediately gathered around with curious and excited looks in their eyes. They were too shy to answer many of my questions but they looked happy, not frightened. When I asked to speak to Mr. John, they all padded barefoot indoors to get their father.

A man in a wide-brimmed straw hat with dark curls jutting out from under and a long, dark beard on his chin wheeled his way to see what was up. I immediately began to stutter and to think this was a really bad idea. 7 curious faces were all upon me now. He ended up being very kind and open and showed me his workshop and talked about their way of life and how he became paralyzed. How difficult that would be in a culture where the man has a real responsibility to take care of a large family and work with his hands. "5 years ago on Wednesday, I fell in an accident that change my life," he said sadly has he wheeled himself around the workshop. "It's still hard, but I had to accept it. The hardest part is not being able to do all the things I used to love. I used to love to run." We both sat in silence, both wondering why we bother with plans when everything can change in an instant.

I still felt so shy the entire time. For so long I have admired them so to meet a family was just so neat. When I was younger, I thought well, I'll go join the Amish when I am old enough. Of course that was a silly idea as realistically that just doesn't happen. Plus, although living without electricity or running water seems like it would be a major adjustment, the lack of freedom especially for women would really be the point that would keep me away. Besides, who's ever heard of an Amish Catholic?

I think now the reason why I admired them so much because I have admired community and being a good neighbor from the time I was a child and the Amish really have that community. Of course, in every community no matter where you are and modern American culture is no different to this, you have to live by a set of rules. The Amish standards are very strict so if you don't fit in that box, unfortunately life can be very hard for you. My social psychology teacher when we first started class asked if it was easier to live outside the box in an individualistic culture like the Americans or a group-minded culture like the Japanese. I knew the answer but most people assumed it would be Americans. No, actually it's equally hard for both cultures if you don't fit in.

We waved good bye after about an hour and he returned to his woodworking business and I drove on, really wondering...what would it be like?