Independently

I am an independent person. Sure that seems to be the name of the game these days. Everyone seems to be "Doing their own thing" and living life "Their own way," and all this gets to be quite old when in reality everyone is just trying to fit in with every one else. As Humans we want to be accepted, we want to belong. It is in our nature to be social with our fellow homo sapiens. Me, yeah, I want to fit in, I would like to belong, and I have some amazing family and friends, but sometimes I just don't care to belong. I want to be able to do my own unique thing. What that looks like is different every time, whether it be art, reading material, food choices, music, or movie choices: many times I end up on my own when picking these things as my tastes to to run a bit more sporadic than most. I'm all over the spectrum in tastes. For example: among my friends up here there are not many, or any at all of the comic book junkie variety, whereas my friends in college were not exactly fans of many of my more eclectic music choices.
Sometimes these choices leave me on the outside, and after a history in middle and highschool of not fitting in, I am used to and have accepted my now occasional outsideness, and have actually learned to enjoy my time alone at times. All this to lead into a small somewhat amusing anecdote from this past weekends family excursion downstate for a family reunion of sorts on my dad's side.
I love my family to death, but as I have said I enjoy my alone time and well after a 5 hour car trip compacted in the back seat of a subaru wagon, and then a BBQ with said extended family, I was ready for some space, and well, the one hotel room that housed my immediate family for the weekend just wasn't cutting it.
So I decided to go for a walk and wander the Meijers sitting right across the highway. Other than coming mildly close to getting hit by a car I got there safely.
Now, I haven't been in a large number of Meijer stores in my lifetime, but the ones I have visited, were pleasant experiences (minus the hordes of people massing the aisles). They were clean, fairly organized and nicely executed as stores go. This one, on the other hand was a definite ghetto version of Meijers. This one as I think most are, are open 24 hours. Personally I wouldn't want to be in this one past 10. Anyways, I wandered the aisles picking up a couple things I needed and a few things I didn't, and as I said I kind of wanted to be out of there before 10 so after a bit of aimless wandering and succumbing to some junkfood I walked to the checkout. Now the lady that ended up waiting on me freaked me out. Only mildly at first as I could tell something wasn't right when she finished with a lady she was checking out and then forwarded up my stuff to the register along the conveyor completely ignoring the girl in front of me who I am guessing was planning on buying the few pairs of socks and head band she had clutched in her hands. This poor, overlooked teenager graciously let me go ahead since it seemed that that the cashier was leaving her with no other option. When I got to the register I realized why this slightly scary cashier had missed the girl in front of me holding on to her merchandise. See I try and make contact with those waiting on me as it seems to be a friendlier way of interacting with humanity, but this time I wish I hadn't. When I looked up, I realized this lady was crosseyed to the extent that it appeared she was looking herself in the eye. Quite an impressive move if you haven't attempted this feat of ocular dexterity. Well I exited the premises with my wheat thins quite quickly before I made some comment or reaction I might regret.
Well that was quite the meandering anecdote that had pretty much absolutely no purpose. Ah well sometimes that's all this blog is, nonsensical thoughts and stories from the odd storehouse of unique and different information and stories that is my brain. I hope you were at least mildly entertained. If not well I would apologize, but this is my space to write what I like so, yeah I am not going to be that apologetic about it.
As to the requisite media recommendation go rent "In America" the movie. Absolutely wonderful. Watch it, have a good laugh, a good cry, and work on your Irish accent.

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