Food For Thought

I live in a suburb of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. I also am within a two-hour drive of Philadelphia, Washington DC and Baltimore. On June 2, I decided to take a small "road trip" to Red Emma's, a worker-owned bookstore and restaurant in Baltimore. I was looking for some reading materials that I didn't think the local independent bookstore would carry. I was looking for "Handbook For a Post-Roe America", a book that I have mentioned a few times as being a manual for a real-life "Maidez" movement., or a book on the Italian Anarchist tradition.

I did not actually drive to Baltimore; I am not comfortable driving in large metropolitan areas. How I managed the streets of Pittsburgh or Philadelphia is beyond me. I drove to a suburb and utilized the light rail to get me into the city. Once I had my bearings, I quickly found my way to the establishment. I was seated, and after mangling a menu, had my appetizer of a bagel with cream cheese. I decided to to order a "fishless filet" sandwich, the menu is meatless, and coffee.

The sandwich was delicious! I remarked to one of several servers that I never thought something tasting "fishy" would be a compliment. The filets tasted like fish, not the vegetable or soy taste you get from non-animal protein . The roll was a bit crusty, and I would have liked an option to put a slice of soy, or other non-dairy cheese on the sandwich, but that is more a matter of personal taste. Fed and caffeinated, I headed to the stacks. The actual bookstore was kind of small, and seemed to be relying on a lot of older books. I still managed to wander the space and finally decided on Che Guevara's classic text Guerilla Warfare and a book about the clandestine abortion service, Jane, that existed in Chicago from 1968-1973. As I complete them, I'll review them.

I also did figure out a way to leave with a bit of egg on my face, maybe. As I was looking at books, I ended up striking up a running conversation with a few women. One of the women may have been transgender or non-binary, but she, as that was her preferred pronoun, also was interested in my ongoing, but shallow, forays into InfoSec, etc. I offered her a cup of coffee and some conversation, but was tactfully snubbed. I don't think I gave signals that I was making any advances, I didn't have to duck or dodge a slap or anything. I still had my "one for the road" and headed back to the station and on to home.

I think I may take a trip in the fall to Philadelphia to the Wooden Shoe, a similar store. but minus a restaurant.