It’s hard to believe it’s Memorial Day Weekend. For the first time in the 6 years I’ve lived at my apartments the parking lot is full. The typical busy Saturday afternoon street beyond my patio is almost quiet, and went I tucked my tail between my legs again and bought a weeks worth of groceries at ‘Grocery Outlet’ it was filled with people from all sorts of social classes who had the same look as I did, “Oh please let this not hurt at the register.”
The fast food chains had 1-2 cars in the drive-thru at high noon and I’m no longer drooling over the latest in high tech gadgets or video games. With gas at four dollars a gallon, Mad Max popping in my head and surviving a blood bath of layoffs, I can’t help but wonder what’s ahead.
I was sitting on my chair outside, looking at the empty field across the street and I automatically graphed my city. One of the many things I loved about visiting Manhattan during these difficult financial times was that it’s set up to be a walking community. The on going joke of “Two blocks” because everything seems to be within two blocks of wherever you are. Although the streets were busied with traffic, there were even more people walking to their destinations.
I wish that my city could cure the pain of shopping by breaking the area into smaller sections. In a smaller city, things are spread out making it impossible to walk the distance from your home to the department store, pharmacy and grocery store. Renting the latest dvd has fallen off my list of priorities and I don’t really care to run out to the movie theater because the thought of sitting at a red light makes me cringe. Am I cheap? I’ve always been a moderate minimalist, especially for being a self proclaimed geek. Now however, I have to truly look ahead and really stick to the bare minimum.
I’m curious though because all areas are different and the impact may not be as vivid as it is where I live- am I the only one who has come to a grinding halt in purchasing anything that isn’t food or fuel (typical bills)? Will the lifestyle change be temporary or are we on the verge of turning our communities into merchant stands in the streets and barter systems? Do I just have an over active imagination and things are really temporary and not as bad as I think??? Will I ever be able to justify buying another shiny new gadget????
