Rite Aid, the Single Life, and the Hostile Takeover of my Adolescence
Believe me... they all relate. If you happen to live or travel near an Eckerds drugstore lately you might have noticed that it is not Eckerds at all anymore but RITE AID instead! Rite Aid?! I mean, come on... rite? Either this new idea of a pharmacy is run by people who can't spell or the owners are crazy goat-sacrificing priests of some obscure pharmaceutical religion. Wikipedia defines "rite" as: "an established, ceremonious, usually religious act." See? Any way you slice it- poor spellers OR a crazed drugstore priesthood- I just don't like it. Plus I've grown up with an Eckerds just down the road. They were there for all my photo developing needs when I was just a wee one taking sadly looking pictures with my electric blue camera. They didn't judge my pitiful, thumb-in-the-corner results. Nope... they just did their job- reliably, timely, and with a smile. Who knows WHAT would happen if I tried to develop anything at Rite Aid. They'd probably scoff at me. Before tying me up to extract some of my blood for their picture developing ceremony, of course. At any rate, it kinda signifies the end of an era for me. An Eckerds era.
And if having my family, friendly neighborhood drugstore ripped away from me wasn't enough, I'm also suffering from back-to-school withdrawal. For the first time in eighteen years, I'm not a student (but don't tell the movie theater people that yet... ;D). Every time I pass by a well-ravaged rack of notebooks at Walmart or a display of cute new folders at Target, I can't help but feel a wave of melancholy that I won't be needing that stuff anymore. And even though when I was in the deepest, darkest throes of overwhelming schoolwork I would have traded all of my cute folders, notebooks, and possibly one of my vital organs for just a peek of freedom- now that I'm actually here... it feels a bit empty. I am, however, pretty happy that I still have my liver. But the driving force of getting homework done, waking up for classes, passing Dr. Spradlin's Renaissance Drama class, and intestinally surviving the rigors of Gano cuisine.... they're all gone. So I guess the deal now after this whole graduation business is to find a new direction for your life to go in. But it sure is hard after it's consumed such a large portion of your life for so long. And in the interim, I'm feeling pretty aimless.
I guess the same could go for my recently new relational status (see! you were waiting for the masterful tie-in and BAM! There it was.) Spending college with the same person- 4 years of learning stuff about each other, changing, growing, laughing, smacking each other around (I mean... if you're the violent type)- only to realize that there's a very real possibility they might not be in your future... well, it's pretty weird and unsettling. Especially when most all of your college memories are somehow inextricably wrapped up, tied up, and tangled up with that person (go ahead- do the hand motions... i know you want to).
So basically, I'm just feeling a little bit desolate now. It's as if someone has taken me from the semi-blissful, sunshiney, butterfly dwelling, bunny hopping field of adolescence... tied me up... and then tossed me into the swirling, sewer-laden abyss of uncertainty. But I hear this is a normal post-graduation feeling, you know, the desolation and whatnot. Maybe not so much the whole sewage analogy....
On the other hand, seeing as I've been given a fresh start with everything, it seems like this could be a really awesome time for me to try new things and experience new stuff. But I'm still not budging about this drugstore business.... my blood is precious to me.
And if having my family, friendly neighborhood drugstore ripped away from me wasn't enough, I'm also suffering from back-to-school withdrawal. For the first time in eighteen years, I'm not a student (but don't tell the movie theater people that yet... ;D). Every time I pass by a well-ravaged rack of notebooks at Walmart or a display of cute new folders at Target, I can't help but feel a wave of melancholy that I won't be needing that stuff anymore. And even though when I was in the deepest, darkest throes of overwhelming schoolwork I would have traded all of my cute folders, notebooks, and possibly one of my vital organs for just a peek of freedom- now that I'm actually here... it feels a bit empty. I am, however, pretty happy that I still have my liver. But the driving force of getting homework done, waking up for classes, passing Dr. Spradlin's Renaissance Drama class, and intestinally surviving the rigors of Gano cuisine.... they're all gone. So I guess the deal now after this whole graduation business is to find a new direction for your life to go in. But it sure is hard after it's consumed such a large portion of your life for so long. And in the interim, I'm feeling pretty aimless.
I guess the same could go for my recently new relational status (see! you were waiting for the masterful tie-in and BAM! There it was.) Spending college with the same person- 4 years of learning stuff about each other, changing, growing, laughing, smacking each other around (I mean... if you're the violent type)- only to realize that there's a very real possibility they might not be in your future... well, it's pretty weird and unsettling. Especially when most all of your college memories are somehow inextricably wrapped up, tied up, and tangled up with that person (go ahead- do the hand motions... i know you want to).
So basically, I'm just feeling a little bit desolate now. It's as if someone has taken me from the semi-blissful, sunshiney, butterfly dwelling, bunny hopping field of adolescence... tied me up... and then tossed me into the swirling, sewer-laden abyss of uncertainty. But I hear this is a normal post-graduation feeling, you know, the desolation and whatnot. Maybe not so much the whole sewage analogy....
On the other hand, seeing as I've been given a fresh start with everything, it seems like this could be a really awesome time for me to try new things and experience new stuff. But I'm still not budging about this drugstore business.... my blood is precious to me.