New Friends

    I think its easy to get caught up in the daily routine. Wake up, shower, brush your teeth, get dressed, eat breakfast, go to work, eat lunch, go back to work, eat dinner, go back to work, clean up, take a shower, go to sleep; lather, rinse, repeat. It's like an endless loop-de-loop of tireless repetition. It's no different on the ship. We have scheduled work times, scheduled rest times, scheduled meal times Every single thing is on a schedule.
    I was thinking about my schedule as I was walking down the same hallway i do every morning on my way to work. I thought about how I pass the same peopel every morning, say the same half-hearted How you doing, with the same smile and am greeted with the same response, Fine thank you. If you know me, you know i love meeting new people. Love it. I could walk around by myself for hours just talking to random people and having the time of my life. It has been driving me insane that I see the same 20 people every day when there is a ship of 1500 crew members. So, on a whim, I decided to turn left when I usually go forward. I went up a flight of stairs, down a corridor and wandered around aimlessly. And then I curled in to the fetal position and began to cry when I realized I had absolutely no clue where I was.
     While I was crying and desperately trying my best to decode maritime language ( I'm still trying to figure out what PPE AFT DK 5 means) a girl around my age with a thick English accent said, "Oi, you luhk a littewl lost lahv, need some help?" or in American, " You're an idiot. I will help you." She walked me back to the hall way where I was supposed to be, all the while asking me about where I come from, about my family back home, school, how long my contract is, why I have no sense of direction whatsoever; usual things. When we parted ways we exchanged phone number and made plans to hang out with each other soon.
    I walked away smiling to myself. Had I known that all I had to do was get lost on this giant ship to make new friends, I would have done it long ago.