Greenlake

I think I trespassed at Greenlake last night.

Lacey, Hannah and I thought since the weather was gorgeous and in the mid-70s, a walk around Greenlake after work would be really refreshing. However, once there, I realized we were grossly out of place. As three women in our mid-20s with no purpose at the lake other than to wander around gossiping with one another, we really felt the stares of rejection. Lacey eventually succumbed to the peer pressure – she began to think about getting a small dog.

Here’s a short list of people who actually fit in at Greenlake:

· People with cute or semi-cute dogs (preferably the smaller, the better)
· People with cute or mildly-cute children in strollers
· High school kids wandering around causing trouble
· People on the exercise rampage (usually wearing spandex)
· Guys playing basketball, volleyball, baseball, etc.
· Skinny girls sitting on the sidelines watching the guys play sports
· Crazy people on rollerblades, skateboards or bikes
· Fishermen
· Couples holding hands
· Old people holding hands (or just holding each other up?)

Even though we felt slightly awkward, we decided that public places are for everyone and enjoyed our walk. It was somewhat distracting having to dodge power-walkers, runners, rollerbladers and bikers screaming, “On your left!” but we managed. For a while… until we saw Starbucks looming in the distance. We had to stop. We figured it would only take a minute. Even though the line was about 8 people deep, it’s Starbucks. They always have about 10 employees working at a time, so it should have been no big deal. Yeah right. Waiting in line for 20 minutes, we desperately tried to politely ignore the disgusting comments that the nasty old man in front of us kept interjecting into our private conversation. The only saving grace at the end of the line was when the incompetent barista accidentally made an extra strawberry smoothie, and gave it to us for free.

Finally back on track for our walk, we got approximately 50 yards before another distraction. “Hey, are you registered to vote?” This not being a typical annoying cat call-type statement, we were intrigued by the question. Dodging a stroller, we wandered over to a table manned by two guys about our own age. We quickly learned that they were from Florida, traveling the country working with some sort of political forum. Their goal for the day? To lure Greenlake patrons into signing a petition which, with enough signatures, would get a Green Energy bill on the ballot. Eh, what the heck, we signed it. Not only that, but Lacey and Hannah volunteered the information that Alki Beach would also be a great place to collect signatures. Seeing their chance, the guys quickly asked for a phone number, “So they could find their way to Alki,” they insisted. (Lacey and Hannah live across the street from the beach).

Now, anyone who knows Lacey is aware that she has had some problems with a certain stalker. She wasn’t about to give her phone number to another psycho, so politely declined. Hannah, however, was nice enough to volunteer some general directions. Noticing that the sun was going down, we waved goodbye and continued on our way. Hannah and Lacey prided themselves on not giving up their digits to strangers, thus avoiding another potential stalker situation. Until Hannah stopped cold in realization. We had written down our addresses on the ballot forms. Not only that, but Hannah had basically held out the directions to her house on a silver platter. Oops. Maybe we weren’t so smart after all. So if anyone reads the headline, “Girls kidnapped from Alki Beach” in the next few days, you know what happened.