EbTheRedHead: Life as we know it...

The news is the incident that happened in California was an act of terrorism. Again. I'm beginning to wonder if Life will always be like this. Recapping on my trip to Paris and Italy makes me want to go back and visit. Maybe there's things that I missed out the 1st time around? The people. The culture. Here in the states we've had two recent mass shootings as well as controversy in Chicago politics. You don't trust everything you see, hear, read about, etc. Is there a cover up? Whose telling the truth? Which politician should you vote for in the upcoming election? What have they promised?
A few years ago I suffered a heartbreak. I wondered if I could ever trust a man again. It's even leaped over to my friendships; my family. It messes with your head (and heart). You don't want to open up. It's a lonely way to live. I personally have learned, at one point or another, at one moment in time, someone I've loved, friends and lovers, mother and father, have hurt me deeply. Some intentional, some unexpected. Some unaware. It's a fact of life for me.
People have given me all types of advice, noting my sensitivity and kindness will make people take advantage of me. What a thought. When I'm nice to someone, they will hurt me. Not really the motto I go by, but I've ignored it either way. Why? Because deep down, I believe people are good. And if they're bad, well then, some outside force has messed up their persona. Just like fear, hate is taught as well.
What then, do we do in the meantime? I use to think, I'll live my life accordingly, thank you very much. But now, because of these horrific incidents, one after the other, I'm jumpy ALL THE TIME. Just as we speak, there will be another protest in downtown Chicago today. I'm tired. I need a vacation. Oh yeah. Guess not since traveling is a scary thing now. What gives?
On Friday I went out to celebrate my friend's birthday. And it's just what we need. To celebrate something! FINALLY!! I couldn't wait to see my friends and laugh and dance and drink JUST FOR A FEW HOURS before we head back to the way Life is now, as we know it. Scary. Sad. Full of bad people trying to manipulate you. Put fear in you. Change you into something that you're not.
On that last Saturday in Italy, I had to catch a 5:30pm train back to Rome. My flight was leaving the next day, but it was the only train I could take out of town. There were no more trains later in the evening. I figured I'll hangout at the airport like I did last year and wait for my flight. That's the frustrating thing about traveling. Sometimes the schedules just don't line up. Oh well.
I packed up my belongings and made sure I had everything. My friend suggested we have a big lunch since I will be riding on a train for 4 hours. Good idea! She also suggested we stop by the winery and say good bye to some of her friends before I head out.
We went to La Fossa del Grano for a late afternoon feast. I ate so much, but I couldn't help it. Everything was so good. We ate here last year so it was nice I got a chance to dine here before I left. My anxiety was getting the best of me once more. We had some wine to calm my nerves, but I knew tomorrow was going to be the worst of it. Oh well. What can you do?
We got a call during lunch to remind us to stop by the winery. This time, we were to meet up at the countryside location. I got a chance to say bye to some friends, and snuck in a quick tour while I was there. It was bitter sweet saying farewell, but I wasn't gone yet. I had a 4 hour train ride ahead of me.
I mostly stayed up while I rode out. Once I got to Rome, I found out that the train that takes us to the airport had stopped running for the night. To make matters worse, I was almost out of cash. My friend had lent me some money but it turns out to take a cab out to the airport would cost me 50 euros! I guess it's not so close by as I thought. I figured I'll break night til the morning and wait for that airport train. My flight wasn't until 11am, so I had plenty of time to kill.
Well my "stay" at the train station was an eye opening experience. There were people all around me, doing the same thing. Waiting up for the early morning train to start running again. We eventually got kicked out of the station around 2am. The security guards escorted us outside and didn't let us back in till 4:30am. I stood outside with my luggage nervously while people slept on the floors. There were some rowdy party goers that will walk by from time to time making some noise. There were also strange individuals that would scare me from time to time. Some people can be so odd! I hated every minute of it.
At one point, there was an African sleeping on the ground nearby as I waited for the station to open up again. He was snoring loudly as if he was sleeping on a California King bed. He stretched out and said "God is Good" and continued to sleep. I smiled to myself and said, yes he is...