I bought an iced tea at the convenience store around the corner from my house yesterday and it was the best thing in the world. Not the iced tea, itself, although I do love iced tea. But the experience was awesome. How amazing could a trip to the convenience store be?, you ask. Well, need I remind you that it's the little things - like talking to strangers and turning the age of my birthdate- that make me happy.
When I was little, I thought it was a shame we didn't live near a convenience store because I thought it would be so cool to just be like "Hey Mom, I'm popping to the store real quick to get an iced tea real quick! Be back real quick!" And then I could walk or ride my bike down the street all by myself, spend that mysterious green thing called money, and drink my iced tea while making my way back home. Real quick. But in Feeding Hills, we didn't have a convenience store around the corner. Our convenience store was conveniently located 4 miles away. Nor did I walk home from school, so I couldn't stop for a malt shake at the malt shop(pe) on my way home, like all the kids did in the 1950's of my imagination. My suburban town has some rural sections, and we lived in one rural part that was rapidly growing residencially with big new neighborhoods full of big new houses and no little old convenience stores.
You can imagine my excitement upon moving to New York City, with places for me to grab iced teas all the time, any time. Although, at $3 a pop, I don't grab a drink every day. I save my $3 for special occassions. Like for when I'm really thirsty. Or bored. And hence why yesterday's trip was such a treat: because I have now developed a love for Arizona's teas in huge cans for just (drumroll please) 99 cents! It is such a bargain! It's like 2 drinks for the price of half of 1! At this price, I can make up for all the drinks I wasn't able to buy as a little kid!
I knew when I was 12 that I was moving to NYC when I grew up. And so I knew then that I would someday live my dream of buying cans and bottles of artificially sugared drinks with fancy names like Snapple. Unfortunately, there were some other things that I aspired to when I was little that haven't lived up to their potential. For one, I played for hours upon end with my mini kitchen when I was young, and now I can't stand cooking. All those hours I was looking forward to doing the "real thing" and then it just panned out to disappointment. Also, I always thought it'd be cool to have my own set of keys and open the door to my house on my own. This movement we go through at least once a day as adults is often more of a burden than a simple routine, as my hands are often full of bags and the mail and my cell phone and my over-priced beverage from the convenience store, and the key always gets stuck while my screen door likes to hurl itself at my face if it can't be shut again in 1.3 seconds. And one more thing - when I was little, I couldn't wait to write out checks in a checkbook that was all my own. I practiced my signature every second I got. Now the thought of writing out a check is associated with a cringe as I think about my bank account, and my signature, although I think is pretty, is often misread, for I'm told my cursive "U" looks like an "N," and thus I possess the tax returns for Jodie Pfan.
Aside from those inconveniences, being a grown up is still just as cool as I thought it would be. I mean, I don't even have to ask my Mom whether or not I can grab a quick drink at the store - I can just go all on my own without asking anybody! Although that comes with it's drawbacks, too. Sometimes I could use a little help opening the door and definately with the cooking. And I wouldn't mind if Mom wanted to come to the convenience store with me. Drinking iced tea together is more fun. Whether you can get it real quick across the street or have to drive a million miles to get it.
