The Matt-packing Trip

I arrived in Salt Lake City by bus this morning at about 5:30 AM. As soon as I left the bus I went looking for breakfast with a fully-loaded pack and Patagonia messenger bag, and found a great little place in a hotel. SLC is an absolutely gorgeous city this time of morning, but judging a city at 6:00 AM is a bit like judging a newborn baby while she's asleep. Still, this seems like an excellent place to be.

I asked the maitre d' if the restaurant had wireless internet, and she looked me up and down disapprovingly before saying that they did, but I could not stay for too long because they were very busy that morning. At first I was offended, but then I realized that my appearance closely mirrored that of a homeless person and that her reservation was at least understandable, albeit rude.

I shoved my backpack into the booth with me and got out my computer. I booted up my Rosetta Stone: Mandarin for Beginners, and started to do the Pronunciation Lesson that I couldn't do last night on the bus because it would have been too loud for the other passengers. I then realized that I was only fueling my already poor social image by staring gravely at my laptop and pronouncing the Mandarin word for "boy" one syllable at a time, often repeating the same syllable until the computer felt I had pronounced it adequately. I think it's safe to say that I am high in the running for the craziest person in this breakfast restaurant right now.