See this?
Wow. That is the very Superstore that I go to, on a weekly basis. Shocking! I heard about this from Ryan the other day, and let's just say that I haven't made any plans to go back there for a while.
Am I a sissy? No way. I grew up in a rough-ish area of Vancouver. I remember the shroom-guys wandering slowly through the park out our back gate, the party animals peeing in the parking lot that stood between our house and the park, the neighbourhood pervert who lived down on the corner of the street and would call hello to me and my sisters as we passed by (even though my dad had sternly asked him never to talk to us) and I certainly remember waking up one Saturday morning to yelling out on the street in front of our house, where upon taking up our places in the windows, we saw a handful of police cars, police with guns drawn, surrounding a white car and arresting the person in it.
Yes, I grew up in a lively neighbourhood, but did I ever get mugged? No. Did I ever dodge bullets as I walked the streets? No. Did I ever fear for my life? Well, the odd time....
But this Superstore incident shook me. Maybe it's because I have Plava now. The thought of putting myself (or her) in peril is suddenly so much more horrible than before. Parenthood has certainly taught me to be less reckless, to drive more safely, to be aware that I'm perishable. The thought of something happening to me or Ryan and Plava having to grow up without one of us is sometimes more than I can bear.
So I didn't go to Superstore this week. I drove in the opposite direction and went to an organic food market, like Ryan and I have been talking about doing.
Hey, nothing like a little incentive to get us eating healthy!!
2 comments:
You are a great writer, Laura! You make me laugh!
You forgot about the drug dealings that were a continuous part of activities in the parking lot behind our house, and how the shroom guys would often wander into our back yard (or maybe that was when you were really little), and how the neighbourhood bully would throw rocks at us on our route home to school (okay, that was me), and how we had to cross an unattended, uncrossed-walked highway with semi trucks on our way home from school...and how the guys at the old gas station used to rip us kids off of our money and not give us the right change back from our chips...and how we had gang stabbings at my high school and the safest thing was just to keep your head down, and how off and on there was some exhibitionist who would wander by us kids with his gents hanging out, and how the house down the block was a drug house for awhile.
But, man, it was a great neighbourhood and we had a fun and adventurous upbringing.
That's so scary!! Glad it wasn't during YOUR shopping trip!
You turned a serious post into a comedy. Love it!
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