The Joys Of A Normal Date

Back home from my latest excursion, and boy, did I feel good about this trip. No sex, no making out, no pressure to perform, just enjoying someone's company and getting to know each other, the way it's supposed to be. We visited the Civil Rights Museum yesterday, and that was a sobering experience because it's built around the motel room that Martin Luther King Jr. was staying in when he was assassinated. So you see the Lorraine Motel sign out front and the old school cars parked where the room was, and you get to walk almost right up to the spot on the balcony where he was shot, and the rooms that he and his associates were staying in have been remade and preserved so that the day is frozen in time. Then you go across the street and see a recreation of the bathroom that James Earl Ray stood in to get the angle of the shot, and when you look out the window and see how easy it was to get a clear shot, it's very chilling. Combine that with the exhibits that give you a feel of how blacks have been treated throughout the years, and it makes you sad and angry at the same time. I realized during my stay that Memphis is the farthest south that I have ever been, and the waitress at IHOP constantly using "y'all" was a gentle reminder. But my friend recounting some of the times she's been called racist names was a harsh reminder, because I've never been called any of those names. The way Memphis is segregated was a very interesting thing to witness as well. I should be used to segregation here in Chicago, but seriously, we're very tolerant and mixed compared to Memphis. I hardly saw any group that had blacks and whites together socially, and I don't think I saw any Latinos at all. And I never saw so many pickup trucks, lol. But my friend lives right on the border of a suburb, a very peaceful neighborhood, and her life seems to be very calm and ordered, which I admire. She's grounded, she's intelligent, she's attractive, and she likes me. It was very easy to enjoy the two days I spent with her. I'm not sure when we will get together again, but when we do, we will continue to get closer and build on the friendship and trust that we established in our first meeting, and we will become more comfortable with each other, and the relationship will grow. Naturally. The way it's supposed to be.