I’m fine with waiting in the waiting room, but there were few magazines, and the ones they had were several years old. I didn’t think to bring a book. I only brought my tablet and when I asked the person doing the testing if they had a guest WiFi, she asked me what WiFi was. I didn't bother pursuing the question any further.
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| Current events- circa December 5th, 2011 |
The coffee shop is filled with a mixture of people. There are younger folks which I would describe as a mixture of hip and hip-ish. Most look to be college age. I say that, not only because this is a “college town” but many of them seem young- they walk briskly and smile often- indicating to me that their spirits have yet to be broken.
There are older people here too. These older people are people that I’m guessing are about my age. I say this partly because, like me, they clearly have no idea what hip really is, but unlike me, they seem to be struggling to appear like they have some clue
There are the women, with with their stiff, crispy looking skin- subjected to either too much time in a tanning salon or too much Botox or- some desperate combination of both. There are the men, some wearing sport jackets- as if that were still a normal thing. And there’s a guy wearing both a scarf and a fedora as if this were some kind of fashion statement that said something other than “ I look like a fool and I wish I were young.”
Over the speakers, the song “One” is playing. It sounds a little like Harry Nilsson, but it isn’t and the fact that I know who Harry Nilsson is but I don’t know who is singing this version, tells me I don’t belong here.
I finish my meatless sandwich and I’m thinking that it’s about time to move on. I’ve been sitting here on a stool, facing the the window, for far too long. Anytime I’ve happened to look outside and make eye contact with someone strolling by, they stop, look at me, look up at the sign- and then move on. It’s making me uncomfortable. I go back to my car and move it to another spot.
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Hey Northampton, thank you for allowing me to park on the fourth floor of your parking garage, so I can walk all the way down to the street level, only to return and find that my entrance to the parking garage is blocked off, making me walk around the other side of the building to another entrance, where I walk up three flights of stairs and find that the ticket payment machine is blocked off, then walk back down the stairs to the ground level, where the other machine is located, then walk back up the stairs to the fourth floor to get my car.
It’s lucky that I’m not someone who has a bad knee or a back that was killing them. Otherwise, I might start to get a little frustrated.
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| Come back soon! |
With Sam still at testing, I go to visit Mom for a little while. I have a really nice visit, but it felt funny driving away and leaving Sam behind. He had his cellphone and I made sure he had a strong signal before I left, but it felt like I was leaving one of the kids at school for the first time.
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Sam finishes his testing and looks tired. He finished all the snacks that he and I packed before we left this morning. I talk a little with the woman doing the testing and she gives me a stack of papers to bring home and fill out.
Sam and I stop at Walmart on the way home- Sam’s suggestion. I suggest that he checks out the Yugioh cards and I pay for a few packs. We stop at the supermarket on the way home and Sam gets some chicken strips and french fries for a late lunch / early dinner.
Now, back at home, Sam eats and relaxes a little- checking out his Yugioh cards. I watch him for a while. He’s tired, but he doesn’t complain. I may not know what “hip” is, but I know what cool is. And Sam is a lot cooler than I will ever be.
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