I’ve been back in Maryland for less than 4 days now and so many things have struck me, but I have limited computer access, and while I could write a substantial blogpost on each of these topics, I’m going to focus on 3, and be brief about each one of them.
Customs Agents
Every time I land at BWI, customs agents pull me aside, and ask to open my bags and look through them. This doesn’t happen to me at other US airports, and they don’t seem to ask many other people - I’ve never seen them ask to look through a white person’s stuff, but have seen them look through other brown people’s belongings. I know the TSA, or whoever is in charge of customs officials will say they don’t profile, but just admit that you do, at least at BWI. I’d rather be told I’m going to be checked because of what I look like than be lied to and feel like I’m being singled out ‘randomly’ whenever I arrive in Baltimore. Apparently, coming in from the UK and working at a university doesn’t trump that I have brown skin and dreadlocks. It’s such an unwelcome - and racist - way to welcome people to your city. I’m to the point of thinking about not flying through BWI anymore, and always going through D.C. because if this isn’t bordering on harassment, I don’t know what is.
Ravens
I first noticed it on Friday morning. I was at a grocery store and almost all the employees were wearing Ravens gear. It went to another level when I went to see a performance at Maya’s school and saw these parents, doting on their children, coming straight from work, with their work clothes on - and a Raven’s jersey on over their work clothes. I saw the jerseys everywhere on Saturday, the flags on houses and cars - I felt like I was back at Michigan State.
The Ravens were relocated from Cleveland after I left Baltimore, so I’ve never been a big Ravens fan - I actually was rooting more for Peyton Manning (having watched him from his college days) to put a spanking on the Ravens yesterday, which he did. I think the extreme Ravens support in a city that still feels like a baseball town in my 1990s eyes just feels odd. I’ve only been in Baltimore for Ravens games a few times, and it always just seems so odd to me, like I’m in a city I just don’t know anymore, which I don’t.
The Ravens were relocated from Cleveland after I left Baltimore, so I’ve never been a big Ravens fan - I actually was rooting more for Peyton Manning (having watched him from his college days) to put a spanking on the Ravens yesterday, which he did. I think the extreme Ravens support in a city that still feels like a baseball town in my 1990s eyes just feels odd. I’ve only been in Baltimore for Ravens games a few times, and it always just seems so odd to me, like I’m in a city I just don’t know anymore, which I don’t.
Walking
Americans always walk on the right side of the sidewalk. Because of that, I would guess that most Americans assume that people in the UK always walk on the left. This is not entirely true. I would guess that about ¼ - ⅓ of people in the UK walk on the right. As an American, I’ve found this frustrating over the past couple of years - I try to be militant about walking on the left in the UK, and so I’m constantly bumping into people because that’s just not how it is.
It’s now, of course, ingrained in me to walk on the left. Now, back in the US, I look like the idiot, who’s bumping into people, because my brain hasn’t re-adjusted to walking on the right. Driving, however, hasn’t had that effect on me yet - because I don’t (yet) drive in the UK.
It’s now, of course, ingrained in me to walk on the left. Now, back in the US, I look like the idiot, who’s bumping into people, because my brain hasn’t re-adjusted to walking on the right. Driving, however, hasn’t had that effect on me yet - because I don’t (yet) drive in the UK.
It's often not the case that people put on Ravens gear OVER their work clothes when they get off work--many workplaces (including Safeway grocery) declare "purple Fridays" so purple clothing IS their work costume.
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