The Joys of Working Downtown...

Sometimes, I swear this stuff only happens to me, yet I'm sure others must experience it also. I just seem to get a lot of it. Anywho, here is the latest "did that really just happen to me?" moment.

I work in downtown Raleigh on Boylan Ave. It's not in the "heart" of downtown, but out on the skirts near housing developments. The company I work for is mostly housed in a large brick building, except for my department, the Planning Department. We are in the tiny old house behind the big brick building. We are across the street from some very shady apartments where people have been arrested and have proven themselves crazy. People love to randomly walk into our building. And since the front office is empty, they normally get pretty far before I can accost them (oh and I do). We've had drunks, people selling memberships to golf clubs, etc. but today, I experienced something new. A non-english speaking Asian lady walked into my building today calling, "hewwo!" and telling me that she drove here from Goldsboro and was trying to find the JC Penney. Did I know where it was? (The nearest JC Penney is in North Hills which takes much more explaining than I care to do). I told her that she needed to go to a gas station to ask, that they would be able to help her more than I. What does she do? She whips out her hand drawn map and shows me where she was supposed to get off the beltline. I should probably mention at this point that she has on a gold head-band, bright purple cami/leotard, and those genie-in-a-bottle pants. It's taken everything to keep a straight face while talking to this woman, but I lose the battle when I tell her she needs to go to gas station she jumps up and says, "No! You know where JC Penney be! Gas station told me wrong! They told me this circle!" She had driven a circle around downtown and ended up at my office.