It was a strange morning and then there were monks!

October 1^st

9:30am: I arrived at the place. I knew what I would have to do. It was almost shameful as I waited in the waiting area. The woman at the desk took the paper I had given her and my id. She entered the data as I waited. There was another girl in the waiting area. She kept staring at me. It was disconcerting. I didn’t know that I was so entertaining to watch. The woman behind the desk said I could come back. I followed her back and she gave me a cup. “You just fill it to the top of that line. The rules are no running the faucet or flushing the toilet.” You’ve just entered the land of drug testing for the Fargo/Moorhead area. It’s always a great start to any new job. As I was leaving after the test I thought for a moment what to say. Usually when I leave some place where they do some type of service I say, thank you, but why should I thank them for making me pee in a cup? They should have thanked me. As I walked out the door, I chose to say, “Have a nice day.” It was much less awkward to say that than to leave in silence as that girl in the waiting room stared at me again.

10am: Monks. You know what I’m talking about. The guys in the brown robes with the hoods, sandals, rope belts and bald spot; I saw two of them today. I don’t think I have ever seen actual monks until today. They were just walking down the street, heading toward down town Fargo. I don’t know why. Maybe there’s a monk convention this weekend. I would suspect that they were staying at the y. That’s where all the professional monks stay during conventions. Seeing a monk in everyday life is like when my friend from North Dakota saw spinning rims on an SUV for the first time in real life. It’s like when my roommate got to watch me fill up my gas tank by hand because in her country they have gas station attendants. These are all unexpected almost unrealistic situations that we find ourselves in. Watch below as Troy sees something he never expected.