Oakland Expedition #3: Leaving for the City

As I finish my bowl of mushed graham crackers and milk, grab my plastic Popples lunchbox and head out the door, I could be headed to kindergarten. But, I'm not. I'm headed to work, for big people. I get to wear a suit, and heels and stockings. It's ok to wear nice clothes because there's no paste or paint to get all over myself.

I walk, but I don't walk all the way. I only walk a little bit. I have to cross busy streets by myself, but I hold my own hands so I'll be safe. Then I get on this big special train called Bart. Bart's really nice. He takes a lot of big people to their works. Sometimes, there are more big people than Bart has chairs for. Then the big people have to stand. Today, I had to stand for a long time. It was not fun. Bart is kinda like a groundhog. He can go above ground or through his special tunnels under ground. My work is on the other side of the water so Bart takes us under the water. He doesn't get wet because he's in one of his special tunnels. Bart likes to stay in his tunnels in the city because it is very crowded with buildings and more big people. That means I have to leave Bart way underground and go up very long stairs. Some days I take the escalator. When I get to the top, I walk some more. Don't worry Mommy, I still hold my hands at the busy streets.

My building is very big and very pretty. At the top is a big gold dome. It must be a special building. The whole building is made out of marble! The floors are marble, the walls are marble, the statues of people in the hallway are marble. Even the bathroom stalls are marble! The marble is shiny and white with gray lines. It is very beautiful. I feel bad walking on the pretty marble in my pointy heels. Inside there is a grand staircase even better than the one in Gone With the Wind. I like to pretend I'm a princess when I walk up and down it. Even though I have to go to the third floor, I don't like to take the elevator. Then I wouldn't get to be a pincess!

Work is strange. There are all these big people. Some of them get to wear suits, too. Some of them don't. The big boss people don't get to wear suits. I don't know why. Today, the biggest boss man only got to wear shorts with a white t-shirt and black socks like my grandpa wears pulled up high on the bottom of his legs. I know the guys, they don't get to wear high heels like me, but he didn't even get to wear shoes! I am glad I am not a big boss person so I can dress pretty.

The big people give me things to do. They must think I'm smart cuz they ask me to do hard things. It's ok. I like to pretend I'm smart. And, I like the books in the library. They are very big and some are old. They smell like my other grandpa's old house from when I used to play there. The books are kinda like puzzles, like the game my sister and I used to play where we hid little scraps of paper all over the house and each scrap had a hint on it to find the next scrap. Sometimes we messed up and Mommy found the scraps later. Mommy didn't enjoy the game as much as we did, I don't think...

Anyway, one of the big people gives me a paper. The paper usually tells me where to start. So I go to the library - it's on the other end of the building. I get to walk down the big marble hallway. It's so long! Like a whole block! When I get to the library, I find the page I need in the first book. It tells me to go to another page or another book. And then that one tells me to go to another, and then another. Sometimes I wind up with a whole stack of books and I don't remember which one says what. The library has this really nice woman in it who helps me when I'm stuck. Like my sister used to give me hints. But she is not as pretty as my sister.

The big people's game is a little different than my sister's and mine. There isn't a last paper in the gingerbread house. I just kinda have to decide when the game's over. Then, they have this extra part of the game that is really hard. I have to tell them what all the different pages and books said. Even though that part's hard, it's fun. That's when I get to play on the computer. I get to type, and play with the typing program. I get to move things around and make the words fat, like this, or crooked, like this, sometimes I get to underline them too, like this. Maybe some day I'll do them all at once!

Today I finished one of the games. I was very proud because the big person who gave me the first paper said the paper I gave her looked good. She used big words too. She said it looked "very thorough," and she said I did it fast. I was scared before because she had a time limit. I thought maybe I would have to go home before I finished. But the big people are nice. They let me cheat by starting before "go" and they don't make me stop to eat. I have a nice big gray cubby that's all mine. That's where I sit. Last time I had a cubby, it was littler and it didn't have pretty wood trim. And they wouldn't let me eat in it. Or color. These big people are much nicer.

So far, I have been at my new work 3 days. That's 3 peanut butter sandwiches, 3 pretty suits, 6 rides on Mr. Bart, and a lot of big books. My new work is fun. Maybe someday I'll be a big person too.

(Original Post)

Bedroom

Happy

Cookie Monster - "C" is for Cookie