Alaskan Postcard No. 5: Making friends in the land of many men

By Ginger Warburton

October 17, 2006 | Besides taking tours for Grayline, I would also drive to take passengers to enjoy different excursions. One of the places I liked to go most was Southeast Exposure. Southeast Exposure guides kayak trips, rock climbing, a zip line and also a little mountain biking.

Naturally the people who work at Southeast Exposure, are all adorable hippies. There are about 13 employees -- guys in their 20s and three girls.

The employees are from the West -- California, Oregon and Utah.

Southeast Exposure is tucked back a little from the main road. It is a tall warehouse filled with bikes. It is hooked onto a large kitchen area for the employees to cook meals, or drink coffee in between tours. Below that is a small garden, still below that a gift shop. (Every cruise ship venue is equipped with a gift shop.) The gift shop is connected to a red building labeled "inboard" and "outboard," and is equipped with recycling toilets by Clivus. I'll give you a second to figure out what genders belong to inboard and outboard.

Still farther below, towards the beach, the employee house is on the left. A boathouse is right on the water filled with kayaks and paddles. A long boardwalk leads to a small dock.

Every time I would pick up or drop people off, I would wander the premises trying to make myself noticeable. Kind of like when you know someone is having a party and you want to be invited. I had met most of the guides one of the first days I drove to Southeast Exposure. To my disappointment, they all seemed totally uninterested in me. This took me by surprise. I was in Alaska -- a place notorious for the fact there are many more men than women.

After a few weeks of not being noticed, Sarah, one of the guides I had met before, said hello to me. Contact!

I was so excited. I said "Hey," trying to sound casual. Sarah, in her mid-20s, has long dark hair, is slim, average height and has pale skin. She can't help but be on volume level 10 all the time; her laugh is like nothing I've heard before, a cackle followed by a series of loud breaths. She took this as an invitation to come talk to me, which it was. She said something about us girls needing to stick together and we exchanged numbers.

As a girl who has been surrounded by men and boys my whole life, this was an amazing moment for me. I thought of the many times I had attempted and failed at making girlfriends. I've often been having lunch or something with friends (all guys), and noticed across the restaurant a table full of girls laughing and talking. This is something that has eluded me.

Meeting girls and asking for numbers is for some reason incredibly awkward. It's a strange situation. I meet a cool girl, I imagine us having tea parties and talking about things only girls talk about. I think she must be excited too. She already has girlfriends though and has no need for me.

Inevitably the opportunity for tea parties never arises, girly chats never exist, and I go back to the comfort of my men. Sarah gave me a hug and made a comment about making a jack Mormon out of me yet, making fun of the fact that I was from Utah once again. I didn't care -- I had a friend, my first of many I would meet through out the summer.

MS
MS