Now I’ve
written about my love of small towns before. There’s just something magical and
unique about each one. And sometimes even a visitor can get a glimpse of the
insiders view of the place if there aren’t many people around. Usually, this is
a good thing. Okay, so the other day I visited this little town. I seemed to be
the only person there but the shop keepers. The very gossipy shop keepers. First
up, a cute little store with lots of items with cutesy little sayings on them.
I’m happily browsing when the owner starts chatting with me. Mostly to tell me
why the store next door is closed. She used a lot of air quotes as she
explained about how those people often have ‘colds’. Thus they show up for work
late or not at all. It was a wonder the shop was still in business, according
to her. Especially when she was sure they were treating their ‘cold’ with more
than ‘Nyquil’ if I knew what she meant.
Yup, I was getting her meaning. She was trying to tell me it was her
high and mighty opinion these people were drunks or drug addicts. She was
letting me know she had no qualms letting every Tom, Dick and Harry who walked
in her store know her lofty judgment of this couple. And heaven help me, or
anyone else for that matter, if I let slip anything personal in
nature. Because it was going to be known by everyone on the planet in two
seconds flat. Yikes, moving on to store number 2. The very nice girl in the
next shop starts sneezing as soon as I walked in. Now this isn’t the shop
that’s closed because the people have a ‘cold’. No, it’s another place
entirely.
She then goes on to tell me
about how sick she’s been for the last several weeks. However, not to worry,
her doctor assured her she’s safe to work because it’s nothing contagious. Oh,
yeah, and I’m supposed to just take her word that she’s not patient zero in the
newest world population ending epidemic? No way, Jose. I ain’t touching
anything in this shop, I’m not going anywhere near her and I’m going to get the
heck out of there as soon as is possible and still make it seem like I’m a
polite human being. Like in about 10 seconds. Okay, deep, deep breath. There
are other shops in this town. Fine, onward I go down the street. Let’s see
what’s behind door number 3. In the next shop, the conversation started out
much tamer. We were discussing the weather. The very nice woman asked me if
it’s been raining a lot where I was from.
When I replied that, yes, even though I was several hours away from home,
the rain seemed to be never ending there as well.
She smiled and responded about how nice the
couple of dry days had been. And then she shocked the heck out of me. She went
on to say that that morning her husband had mentioned it looked like rain. He
had gone on further and added it was a good thing because the mud was looking a
bit dehydrated. She then proceeded to tell me she had turned around and slapped
him. Uh, oh my. What am I supposed to do with this information? No, not so nice
of a lady. What was up with this supposedly quaint little town? I was beginning
to feel like I’d stepped into an episode of the Twilight Zone. Empty streets,
strange characters in the shops, and me wondering what I’m supposed to do to
get out of town as quickly as possible. But I’m stuck, there’s no way out.
Okay, cue the weird music and the creepy guy explaining what’s going on. And
then put me on the first bus out of dodge. I think I was now understanding why
I was the only one in the place – everyone else has already figured out this
town’s odd little secret. Thus no one stops here anymore. However, I hadn’t
been here before, I’d stumbled in here quite by accident. Oops. Ah, but often isn't life just a series of missteps? What's important is what we can learn from them, how we can grow and be better. So what I learned here was - there truly is safety in numbers. Never stop and explore the deserted town. No matter how cute it may look, just keep driving.
Now I’ve
written about my love of small towns before. There’s just something magical and
unique about each one. And sometimes even a visitor can get a glimpse of the
insiders view of the place if there aren’t many people around. Usually, this is
a good thing. Okay, so the other day I visited this little town. I seemed to be
the only person there but the shop keepers. The very gossipy shop keepers. First
up, a cute little store with lots of items with cutesy little sayings on them.
I’m happily browsing when the owner starts chatting with me. Mostly to tell me
why the store next door is closed. She used a lot of air quotes as she
explained about how those people often have ‘colds’. Thus they show up for work
late or not at all. It was a wonder the shop was still in business, according
to her. Especially when she was sure they were treating their ‘cold’ with more
than ‘Nyquil’ if I knew what she meant.
Yup, I was getting her meaning. She was trying to tell me it was her
high and mighty opinion these people were drunks or drug addicts. She was
letting me know she had no qualms letting every Tom, Dick and Harry who walked
in her store know her lofty judgment of this couple. And heaven help me, or
anyone else for that matter, if I let slip anything personal in
nature. Because it was going to be known by everyone on the planet in two
seconds flat. Yikes, moving on to store number 2. The very nice girl in the
next shop starts sneezing as soon as I walked in. Now this isn’t the shop
that’s closed because the people have a ‘cold’. No, it’s another place
entirely. She then goes on to tell me
about how sick she’s been for the last several weeks. However, not to worry,
her doctor assured her she’s safe to work because it’s nothing contagious. Oh,
yeah, and I’m supposed to just take her word that she’s not patient zero in the
newest world population ending epidemic? No way, Jose. I ain’t touching
anything in this shop, I’m not going anywhere near her and I’m going to get the
heck out of there as soon as is possible and still make it seem like I’m a
polite human being. Like in about 10 seconds. Okay, deep, deep breath. There
are other shops in this town. Fine, onward I go down the street. Let’s see
what’s behind door number 3. In the next shop, the conversation started out
much tamer. We were discussing the weather. The very nice woman asked me if
it’s been raining a lot where I was from. When I replied that, yes, even though I was several hours away from home,
the rain seemed to be never ending there as well. She smiled and responded about how nice the
couple of dry days had been. And then she shocked the heck out of me. She went
on to say that that morning her husband had mentioned it looked like rain. He
had gone on further and added it was a good thing because the mud was looking a
bit dehydrated. She then proceeded to tell me she had turned around and slapped
him. Uh, oh my. What am I supposed to do with this information? No, not so nice
of a lady. What was up with this supposedly quaint little town? I was beginning
to feel like I’d stepped into an episode of the Twilight Zone. Empty streets,
strange characters in the shops, and me wondering what I’m supposed to do to
get out of town as quickly as possible. But I’m stuck, there’s no way out.
Okay, cue the weird music and the creepy guy explaining what’s going on. And
then put me on the first bus out of dodge. I think I was now understanding why
I was the only one in the place – everyone else has already figured out this
town’s odd little secret. Thus no one stops here anymore. However, I hadn’t
been here before, I’d stumbled in here quite by accident. Oops. Ah, but often isn't life just a series of missteps? What's important is what we can learn from them, how we can grow and be better. So what I learned here was - there truly is safety in numbers. Never stop and explore the deserted town. No matter how cute it may look, just keep driving.
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