If you’ve read some of my recent posts, you might have a feel for the microcosm we live in here in Sun Prairie. A town with growth problems, a clash of cultures, and firemen still rescuing cats from trees. Tell me, are these snippets from my week any different than other parts of the country:
- At the local privately-funded “dream” playground, there’s no way to dry your hands after washing them in the nearby bathroom. Why? Someone repeatedly shoved fist-fulls of brown paper towel into the toilet and the cost of plumbing repairs exceeded the materials budget for the year.
- At the grocery store on Main Street, the 70-year-old man still bagging our groceries explains that the fun “shopper in training” carts (you know, the ones kids ram into your ankles at least once/isle) have all been stolen from the parking lot.
- At the public pool, a person has to sew a patch on their bathing suit to show proof of their annual pool membership. A special thanks to people passing the laminated cards through the fence and working the system in 2009. Now we all have brown letters “SP” etched into our summer fun (Thank goodness, we don’t live in Albuquerque…”A” for awesome, right!).
- On the topic of the public pool, you have to surrender a towel or a shoe to borrow one of the basketballs for shooting hoops. I always try and smuggle out basketballs in my bikini bottom – baby got back, if you know what I mean! Guess I’ll just have to make a trip to Dick’s Sporting Goods with the rest of the world.
Now, consider this sign taken at a local water park (not in our town, but nearby):
Good grief! At first, I though someone might be trying to campaign for office, but then I realized you might accidentally offend someone with a blood red bathing suit (west-sai-eeed!)
Did the Pilgrims have these problems? Who are these people? The person who took the snow blower from our garage and never returned it? The total stranger who accidentally got the packages on our front porch mixed up with hers (and was just too embarrassed to admit the mistake)? The troubled youth who just had a really bad day?
If it takes a village to raise a child, I’m feeling a bit afraid of our future these days. Do you really know…who are the people in your neighborhood? Well, they’re the people that you meet, When you’re walking down the street, They’re the people that you meet each day. Why can’t we all just live on Sesame Street?
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
Dang! I used to live half an hour from L.A. (still work there) and I’ve not seen any of the stuff you’re talking about. Well, some of my coworkers do throw “signs” at one another when driving past in the parking lot. But they’re all V’s and C’s. For example, Jill throws two V’s and a C (‘cuz that’s how she delivered her kids).
Oh, there is that shopping cart deal around here though… the grocery stores have them rigged up so that the wheels stop turning if they leave the parking lot. I haven’t tried it, but I wanna!
Julie,
Hilarious. I remember being jealous of the kids that had the metal strip sewn on their swimsuit because they were ‘cool enough’ to have a pool pass. LOL.
That sign is great. No Representing. Umm, hard not to, cause my ‘A’ stands for awesome!
oh my goodness. I love the way you write.
If I need a laugh I just come to visit your blog. You have such a great sense of humor and wit
Well I don’t know if I’d want to live in a town if I couldn’t …. REPRESENT. That sign is hilarious. And probably represents all that’s going downhill in society today.
Not that I can talk. I am on the other side of the world. BUT, here’s a bit of a link for you: the ‘shopper in training’ trolley program was ditched at our local large chain hardware/homeware store because every last cute pint-sized trolley had been stolen. What a lot of effort for not a lot of trolley space, right?
(V glad I found you! It’s been a while… too long