Maybe we've grown to complacent about life in St. Louis and all of its oddities. While my mom was here this past weekend, she brought up several things as odd that normally wouldn't have made me blink.
Example #1-neighbor smoking pot, Linette thinks it's a problem they're smoking pot, while I'm just glad it's outside so it won't stink up my apartment.
Example #2- Someone going on a fairly nonsensical rant loudly in the grocery store, behind us in the checkout line. Linette actually looks at him. Don't make eye contact! You pretend like nothing is happening, unless you need to move away from him for your safety. If that's the case, you still pretend nothing is happening, you just move away while doing it.
Example #3- We saw an older, undoubtedly uninsured pick-up run a stop sign while two pedestrians were in the cross-walk. Linette was shocked and amazed. I was like, "You mean that doesn't happen more often than not where you live?"
On TV recently I heard someone use the analogy of the smell of the ape house at the zoo: when you first get there, you're overwhelmed by the stink, but after long enough, everything seems fine. Nick and I have been living in the ape house, and have forgotten how weird St. Louis really is.
A few months ago I went into the Dick's in Bountiful, a grocery store I used to visit regularly. I was struck by how clean and quiet it was. That used to be my normal. Now I'm used to being pan-handled in the grocery store parking lot, passing the smoking security guard on my way inside, and going through the one-way people gates to begin my shopping. It's a little bit different in St. Louis.
2 comments:
I was laughing so hard by the end of this entry, then the ape thing put me over the top.
St. Louis sounds fabulous. You aren't really reading my blog, are you? I guess you can never trust those darn bloggers. Always making things up like, "Reading your blog made me happy today" and the like. You should check it out. It includes a recent fun experience at the Bountiful Costco.
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