On my day off
Last Wednesday I took off work. Rather than sit around the house or visit the usual retail establishments, I took a short trip. Planning my stops the night before, come the morning I was off to the land of the Amish. Yes, I went back to Lancaster for the first time in about 4 years.
My first stop was at the Sonic that had arisen since my departure so long ago. I had never been to a Sonic before which became ubundantly clear when I was prevented in my attempt to enter the building. I was intercepted by an employee asking if they could help me. I told her I did not know how to order. She explained my option as either drive thru or pull into a spot with a speaker and they would bring the food to me. This meant having to eat in my car. I have never been keen on that unless it was at a drive-in theater.
After that it was onto the expensive gourment store to sample all the sauces, jellies and jams they entrusted customers with to keep sanitary as they dredge preztels inside plastic bubbles. This was mostly a way to stall for time while I was waiting for a few used book stores to open. When the time rolled around, I drove through downtown Lancaster like I had been there just yesterday. Everything was where I had left it. There were no surprises in way for new traffic patterns or shiny new stores that I might want to stroll through. No, It was as if everything just stopped moving forward. I would not be suprised if most of the people I worked with during my short tenure at the temp agency were still there toiling away in the recesses of Lancaster. If there were differences none of them warrented my attention.
My journeys eventually lead me to the Park City Mall. The parking lot was nearly full, which I have never seen before. I blame this on the current time of year. Anyway, as I walked through the throngs of people inside, I was again greeted with barely anything noteworthy that could be construde as change. I mean the Victoria's Secret had doubled in size and now has multi-tiered displays of models showing off their wares, but other than that, everything else was just a different veneer on the same old stores that seem to have always existed there. It was ridiculously hot with all of the extra people crammed inside so I had to leave empty handed so I could avoid possibly passing out in some awkward position in the middle of the mall.
It was about lunch time by now and I could only think of one food that would make the trip worth it. A chicken parm from Two Cousins. Seriously it makes me mouth water just thinking about it. It did not dissappoint either. The one thing I had hoped stayed the same did just that. Prepared by the same people in their dirty white shirts as always, in a building with a perilous exit, with a delivery car beat up beyond recognition.
That was my trip into the past which I really don't see myself making again for quite awhile unless necessity warrants another visit. Or I need another chicken parm.
My first stop was at the Sonic that had arisen since my departure so long ago. I had never been to a Sonic before which became ubundantly clear when I was prevented in my attempt to enter the building. I was intercepted by an employee asking if they could help me. I told her I did not know how to order. She explained my option as either drive thru or pull into a spot with a speaker and they would bring the food to me. This meant having to eat in my car. I have never been keen on that unless it was at a drive-in theater.
After that it was onto the expensive gourment store to sample all the sauces, jellies and jams they entrusted customers with to keep sanitary as they dredge preztels inside plastic bubbles. This was mostly a way to stall for time while I was waiting for a few used book stores to open. When the time rolled around, I drove through downtown Lancaster like I had been there just yesterday. Everything was where I had left it. There were no surprises in way for new traffic patterns or shiny new stores that I might want to stroll through. No, It was as if everything just stopped moving forward. I would not be suprised if most of the people I worked with during my short tenure at the temp agency were still there toiling away in the recesses of Lancaster. If there were differences none of them warrented my attention.
My journeys eventually lead me to the Park City Mall. The parking lot was nearly full, which I have never seen before. I blame this on the current time of year. Anyway, as I walked through the throngs of people inside, I was again greeted with barely anything noteworthy that could be construde as change. I mean the Victoria's Secret had doubled in size and now has multi-tiered displays of models showing off their wares, but other than that, everything else was just a different veneer on the same old stores that seem to have always existed there. It was ridiculously hot with all of the extra people crammed inside so I had to leave empty handed so I could avoid possibly passing out in some awkward position in the middle of the mall.
It was about lunch time by now and I could only think of one food that would make the trip worth it. A chicken parm from Two Cousins. Seriously it makes me mouth water just thinking about it. It did not dissappoint either. The one thing I had hoped stayed the same did just that. Prepared by the same people in their dirty white shirts as always, in a building with a perilous exit, with a delivery car beat up beyond recognition.
That was my trip into the past which I really don't see myself making again for quite awhile unless necessity warrants another visit. Or I need another chicken parm.
posted by K-Dawg at 12:37 AM
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