The Children's Dream Store
Isn't free wireless internet just the icing to the vacation cake?
I was kind of grumbly about having to bring my laptop to the beach because I actually have some work I'm supposed to do. I assumed that a backwater like Stone Harbor would just naturally be devoid of modern conveniences like cell phone signal and wireless internet. To my surprise, there's been plenty of both. I'm also surprised to realize that it's not really a backwater town as much anymore. It's certainly not a happenin' beach town like Rehoboth/Bethany or Ocean City, but the "downtown" has grown significantly, as has the younger yuppy population.
Yesterday when I arrived, my nephew asked me, "why'd it take you so long to get here?" The next thing out of his mouth, before I could even answer was, "where's my life vest?" (He'd called while I was still at home to request that I find it in the garage and bring it with me.) I explained that I hadn't known where it was exactly, and couldn't find it. Truthfully, I was running late and didn't even look (bad aunt), but it's not like we were going boating or something. Disappointed, but still excited to see me and share all his news, he exclaimed, "Grandmum said we can go to the Children's Dream Store today!" I was a little surprised and could only reply, "Well that's nice of her." I had no idea what he was talking about.
Turns out that my mom had told Max that the 5 & 10 shop is the store of every child's dream because it has everything a kid could possibly want, which is essentially true. So now we just refer to it as the Children's Dream Store.
Last night we went, and seconds after entering Max had that twinkle in his eye that every child gets when utterly overwhelmed with aisles of cheap toys that sparkle & shine, whiz & whirl, rock & roll, bounce & beep, jump & jive, wiggle & wobble, race & run, flip & fly, and just generally dazzle the eye and capture the imagination. He was in a trance as he carefully eyed everything on the shelves. Eventually he zeroed in on the cars and trucks aisle. There were lots of cool construction truck sets and race cars, but when pressed to make a final decision he wildly searched the racks one last time and settled on a medium sized red hummer. It didn't have any bells and whistles, but his heart was set on it.
As we made our way toward the registers to pay for his new treasure, he looked over to the right, down a long aisle and literally screamed out, "Anika LOOK!" I'm sure in his mind the display that caught his attention was circled with a halo of light, and angels were singing beckoning him forth. There they were: the stack of bright, puffy, day-glo orange... life vests. His dream had come true.
I knew he was disappointed when I'd arrived from home empty handed, but I hadn't realized just how much.
With magnetic force he ran towards the life vests, all the while calling, "they have them! they really have them! they *do* have everything a kid could want." Unfortunately my mom was not so amused. We'd been in the store for a long time, and she wanted to go. Plus she didn't see the allure of a life vest, which isn't technically a toy anyway. She told Max to hurry to the register with the car so we could get going. She disappeared from view, weaving through the aisles toward the front.
Max's dream was in jeopardy. With a wild look in his eyes, thoughts churning through his mind as fast as possible, he said to me, "Anika, we can still make this happen. Quick, go grab a life vest, and I'll run really fast and take this car back to where it came from." Before I could even answer, he was trotting back toward the car aisle, and I just started chuckling and called him back. I found my mom and explained the situation, that it seemed his heart was set on the life vest, and that this was, after all, the children's dream store, and the vest was in fact his dream and the item he wanted most.
So Max's dream came true, and he used the life vest as a pillow that night.
Today while wearing the life vest, he declared that we should go back to the Dream Store for the red car.
***
My mom had an entirely different experience at the "Dream Store". She had bought a squeegee there the day before, but decided to return it because she discovered that it was curved, so didn't work at all to squeegee the shower stall (the last person to take a shower at this place has to squeegee it down to help fight soap scum buildup--it's a rule of the house, and the original squeegee broke while my brother used it). When she returned the faulty squeegee, she explained the issue in a jovial manner, trying to share her amusement about a product that was curved that should be straight. She said that the people working there were completely stone faced, and never cracked a smile. They were apparently even somewhat offended that she would suggest that their fine $2 product might be faulty. They suggested that the squeegee might be used on a car windshield, which is, you know, curved. Clearly, it's not the product that was defective; she just didn't use it on the right surface.
A group of yuppy teens walked by as we were getting into the car, and my mom mumbled, "oh, you're just soooo fuckin' cool." I laughed and asked if I'd heard her right, and she said it again, louder, "everyone's soooo fuckin' cool." My mom rarely says anything worse than "shoot" and I'm always amused when she let's slip something more charged. She explained that everyone in the town seems so artificial and unfriendly to her, even the people in the store; that there's no substance or charm. I told her that I couldn't have said it better myself.
I was kind of grumbly about having to bring my laptop to the beach because I actually have some work I'm supposed to do. I assumed that a backwater like Stone Harbor would just naturally be devoid of modern conveniences like cell phone signal and wireless internet. To my surprise, there's been plenty of both. I'm also surprised to realize that it's not really a backwater town as much anymore. It's certainly not a happenin' beach town like Rehoboth/Bethany or Ocean City, but the "downtown" has grown significantly, as has the younger yuppy population.
Yesterday when I arrived, my nephew asked me, "why'd it take you so long to get here?" The next thing out of his mouth, before I could even answer was, "where's my life vest?" (He'd called while I was still at home to request that I find it in the garage and bring it with me.) I explained that I hadn't known where it was exactly, and couldn't find it. Truthfully, I was running late and didn't even look (bad aunt), but it's not like we were going boating or something. Disappointed, but still excited to see me and share all his news, he exclaimed, "Grandmum said we can go to the Children's Dream Store today!" I was a little surprised and could only reply, "Well that's nice of her." I had no idea what he was talking about.
Turns out that my mom had told Max that the 5 & 10 shop is the store of every child's dream because it has everything a kid could possibly want, which is essentially true. So now we just refer to it as the Children's Dream Store.
Last night we went, and seconds after entering Max had that twinkle in his eye that every child gets when utterly overwhelmed with aisles of cheap toys that sparkle & shine, whiz & whirl, rock & roll, bounce & beep, jump & jive, wiggle & wobble, race & run, flip & fly, and just generally dazzle the eye and capture the imagination. He was in a trance as he carefully eyed everything on the shelves. Eventually he zeroed in on the cars and trucks aisle. There were lots of cool construction truck sets and race cars, but when pressed to make a final decision he wildly searched the racks one last time and settled on a medium sized red hummer. It didn't have any bells and whistles, but his heart was set on it.
As we made our way toward the registers to pay for his new treasure, he looked over to the right, down a long aisle and literally screamed out, "Anika LOOK!" I'm sure in his mind the display that caught his attention was circled with a halo of light, and angels were singing beckoning him forth. There they were: the stack of bright, puffy, day-glo orange... life vests. His dream had come true.
I knew he was disappointed when I'd arrived from home empty handed, but I hadn't realized just how much.
With magnetic force he ran towards the life vests, all the while calling, "they have them! they really have them! they *do* have everything a kid could want." Unfortunately my mom was not so amused. We'd been in the store for a long time, and she wanted to go. Plus she didn't see the allure of a life vest, which isn't technically a toy anyway. She told Max to hurry to the register with the car so we could get going. She disappeared from view, weaving through the aisles toward the front.
Max's dream was in jeopardy. With a wild look in his eyes, thoughts churning through his mind as fast as possible, he said to me, "Anika, we can still make this happen. Quick, go grab a life vest, and I'll run really fast and take this car back to where it came from." Before I could even answer, he was trotting back toward the car aisle, and I just started chuckling and called him back. I found my mom and explained the situation, that it seemed his heart was set on the life vest, and that this was, after all, the children's dream store, and the vest was in fact his dream and the item he wanted most.
So Max's dream came true, and he used the life vest as a pillow that night.
Today while wearing the life vest, he declared that we should go back to the Dream Store for the red car.
***
My mom had an entirely different experience at the "Dream Store". She had bought a squeegee there the day before, but decided to return it because she discovered that it was curved, so didn't work at all to squeegee the shower stall (the last person to take a shower at this place has to squeegee it down to help fight soap scum buildup--it's a rule of the house, and the original squeegee broke while my brother used it). When she returned the faulty squeegee, she explained the issue in a jovial manner, trying to share her amusement about a product that was curved that should be straight. She said that the people working there were completely stone faced, and never cracked a smile. They were apparently even somewhat offended that she would suggest that their fine $2 product might be faulty. They suggested that the squeegee might be used on a car windshield, which is, you know, curved. Clearly, it's not the product that was defective; she just didn't use it on the right surface.
A group of yuppy teens walked by as we were getting into the car, and my mom mumbled, "oh, you're just soooo fuckin' cool." I laughed and asked if I'd heard her right, and she said it again, louder, "everyone's soooo fuckin' cool." My mom rarely says anything worse than "shoot" and I'm always amused when she let's slip something more charged. She explained that everyone in the town seems so artificial and unfriendly to her, even the people in the store; that there's no substance or charm. I told her that I couldn't have said it better myself.