I don't understand why some people think small town living is relaxing. I mean, I'm not saying it's *wrong* that they do, and some of my dearest friends and family are grooving on the small town thing and it's working for them, it's just that I personally don't enjoy it. (In other words, I'm hoping Jana, Ginny, and my mother won't be offended by this post).
I'm here in Marble Falls and the pharmacy isn't open 24 hours, nor are the grocery stores. A lot of the convenience stores close after 10, thereby forcing me to *drive around* looking for one that's open.
Today I wanted a bbq sandwich for lunch. But I couldn't *have* a bbq sandwich for lunch because both bbq places were *closed*. Closed on Monday. Yesterday I wanted a fried peach pie from Atwood's Holiday Treat for breakfast, but they were *closed*. Closed on Sunday. And on Tuesday. So I can't have a fried peach pie tomorrow, either. I would have had to go buy the pie today, and save it for tomorrow for this to have been possible. Not that I'm necessarily going to want the pie tomorrow. I won't know that until tomorrow. Basically I want what I want when I want it and this environment is.....NOT GOOD FOR ME.
After I got home from my *disastrous* quest for a bbq sandwich, with a McDonald's sack in my hand, I complained to my mother about the closed bbq places *and* the pie and then asked her, "btw, who in the hell is closed on *Tuesday*?!?" (I said the hell part in my head, of course--I was talking to my mother). And my mother said because this is such a small town and there used to be so few restaurants, they used to coordinate their days off and that that was a nice thing (and she may have also said some things about it not being polite to complain about someone's town). I said, ok, I'm going to eat my *hamburger* and then I'm going to the library. And do you know what she said to me?!? "You'd better call ahead--the library may not be open today." Arghhhhhhhh!!!!
Going to the grocery store, if you can find an open one, is an ordeal. First of all, all these little old ladies will come very close to Mowing.You.Down with their cars in the parking lot and then after the narrow miss, glare at *you* about it. People must think it's safer to drive in small towns, so senior citizens continue to drive for far longer than they should and then they do the glaring thing. This is annoying and I reserve the right to think so for, oh, the next 40 years.
Anyway, at the grocery store, there's all this friendliness and talking. There's always the risk of running into people you know, and then you have to talk to them and maybe you don't feel like talking to them, but too bad. And even if you don't know them, there's a good chance they'll talk to you anyway. Example: my mother was parking the car at HEB (that's a grocery store in Texas and "HEB" stands for Henry E. Butt, for all you 12-year-olds out there) the other morning and a little old lady was pulling into the space opposite us. She waved at my mom so I asked my mom, "Who is that?" and she said she *didn't know*. So my mother had to wave back to this complete stranger who was waving, apparently, because....because....they were pulling into spaces opposite of each other. Boggle. And then, when we passed her on an aisle in the store, she spoke to my mom and they exchanged pleasantries.
And the grocery store employees are just so friendly and chatty. "You look puzzled, can I help you?" "No, thank you. I think I know how to work a grocery store." But can you really say that? No, because that's "rude" and you can't be rude to them for bothering you because your mother probably knows them. The deli meat guy knows my mother so there's discussion there over the shaved turkey. The butcher guy helps her pick out a package of chicken tenders. The checkers and sackers want to chat about what you're purchasing (as if it's any of their business) and when you bring your own cloth grocery bags for them to use instead of paper or plastic, it completely BLOWS THEIR MINDS. Then there's the whole animated smiling and "thank you!" "No, thank YOU" "No, really, *thank YOU*" "And you have a nice day" and "you TOO!" thing at the end of the transaction that I find myself participating in and it's all just too revolting. Oh, and speaking of checkers, the other day one of them counted out my change to me. And when I say "change" I mean quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies. Like I *care*. Just hand it to me, for God's sake--it's *less than a dollar*!
--susanne
Claudia got bright green, Jordan's are bright turquoise and Sam's are bright orange. 
