One Neighborhood Story, Two Ways

 

Yesterday was rainy. For goodness sake, it’s January. It should have been snow. I didn’t want to go out at all but we were out of milk. And I needed milk for coffee and I really needed coffee. Dunkin would have to be my first stop.

It was so crowded that I could barely make my way across the parking lot to get to the Dunkin drive-through to get my iced coffee. The clerk had so much trouble taking my order that I didn’t even order any food for myself. What a mess.

After all that, it took more than one pass to find a parking place for the LA Mart. And there were so many people in the grocery! Strange looking people. Funny looking food with labels I couldn’t read. I hurried to the dairy case to pick up the lactose free whole milk and went to the checkout and there was a long line in every one. So I had to wait. 

I just knew my husband’s bagel was getting cold in the car. 

On the way home I could see Canada geese mucking around in the school field. Do they even have a permit? I’m positive there’s something unsanitary about that. 

Wouldn’t you know, my favorite parking space was gone when I got back and I had to park on the other side of the lot.

It’s hard living in the armpit of Howard County.

*****

As you can see, I’m still mad about the woman who called Columbia “the armpit of Howard County.” So I tried to imagine my trip to the Village Center yesterday morning through her eyes. I put on my “negative glasses” as I completed my Saturday morning tasks. I soon saw it was possible to interpret everything I saw in a negative way. 

The longer I did it, purely as an academic exercise, I saw how easy it was to be prepared to dislike and judge and make everything fit into that world view. It didn’t take long before I was interpreting every little thing as a sign of a dystopian hellscape.

What follows is the true story of what happened.

*****

Yesterday was rainy. For goodness sake, it’s January. I was wishing it were snow. But we were out of milk and I motivated myself to go out by promising myself a large iced coffee at our Village Dunkin.

I was excited to see how busy the Village Center was on such a gray and rainy day. As I drove slowly across the parking lot I thought of how wonderful it was to see our community out and about, shopping at our local businesses and using the Skating Rink. They say that the old Village Centers are dead but this was looking pretty lively to me.

The trip through the drive-through was a commedy of errors. The clerk had so much trouble taking my order that I didn’t even order any food for myself. When I got to the window he apologized. 

“I’m sorry I messed up your order. I’m taking orders, preparing orders, and answering questions in the store. I just…”

“Everyone has days like that,” I reassured him. “I hope your day gets better.” I put a dollar in the tip jar.

After all that, it only took a few minutes to find a parking place close to the door of the LA Mart. And there were so many people in the store!  I smiled to myself, knowing how important it is for our Village and our neighbors to have a successful grocery. 

I picked up the lactose-free whole milk (they almost always have plenty of it in stock)  and went to the checkout. There was a line at every one. So I had to wait. I just knew my husband’s bagel was getting cold in the car. I was feeling a bit guilty for going there first.

But I reminded myself that real life involves waiting in line at the grocery. I passed the time by looking at all the interesting food items in the grocery carts around me. The gentleman in front of me bought a fascinating array of vegetables. Just vegetables! (Note to self: eat more vegetables.) Before long I was at the front of the line and checking out.

On the way home I could see Canada geese mucking around in the school field. I love those darn geese. They clearly think they belong there. I guess they do. 

My favorite parking space was gone when I got back but there was one close by and I didn’t have much to carry. 

I love where I live. 

*****

How do we look at the world? How does that influence our choices and how we treat others?

What do you think?

Village Green/Town² Comments