I wasn't really looking forward to this training trip to Chattanooga Tennessee. It was not really a great city for tourists, however, I hadn't been there before.
I figured I would spend the days in my training session and then the nights in a few clubs or something.
But it was the wrong time to be in Chattanooga, it was at the end of a Teacher's convention and the start of a Comic Convention. Nerds were all over the place. You know those conventions where people are dressed like aliens and comic book heroes. In addition the teachers convention had filled the room with middle aged women. The clash was interested to see.
The lobby was full of space captains and heroines and the like. I tried to navigate around them to get to the front desk. I got in line and waited for a while. All I could hear is about some woman named "Celeste Wisdom."
All of those nerds were talking about her coming to the conference. I finally turned to the man who looked to be thirty five behind me and asked, "Who is Celeste Wisdom?"
The man looked shocked. And asked, "You don't know who Celeste Wisdom is?"
Another overweight man behind him pulled out a magazine cover with a striking woman on the cover. She was breathtaking. She was wearing some kind of space suit getup that still managed to show her tight twenty-something body. Her breasts were full and her torso was trim.
However her hair style looked to be from the seventies or maybe eighties. I asked the man, "You got any pictures from this century?"
He glared at me and went back to his conversation.
It was my turn at check in now. "May I help you?"
So I told the lady my name. She looked me up and saw that I had a room on the eighteenth floor. So now I had to be around these nerds for all these floors, but I was happy to even have a room.
I got to my room and tried the door, it was slightly ajar. I walked in and the room looked as though it wasn't vacated yet.
I was angry that they had given me a room that was not cleaned. I shut the door and began to unpack my things when I saw that in the room was a suitcase and women's clothes in various states of disarray.
I heard the door open so I walked out of the bedroom and almost into a woman that appeared to be in her fifties. She had the short hair do that didn't' quite reach her shoulders. She also had on a night dress like she was about to go on the town.
Although a bit old with saggy breasts and a midsection with a little pouch, I was immediately intrigued, but I also was a little perturbed.
She yelled, "What the hell are you doing in my room?" She hit me with her purse and then began to run to the door.
As a black man in his forties I knew that I had better explain myself quickly or suffer the dire consequences of southern justice.
"No maam, this is my room."
"I have been in this room for the last three days, and you are in my room! I'm gonna call the police."
"Calm down, no look here."
"I showed her the check in paper that showed that I was assigned to this room."