Summer

I'm so sorry I've neglected posting, but I've been busy trying to find a job (and failing). I mean, a new job. I've got my old job back -the grocery store . . . *beek* . . . *beek* . . . *beek* . . . . I was trying to find something that 1. was closer to Grandpa (he could use some help around the house) or 2. paid better and gave me more experience. So far nothing has turned up and I'm not sure if I have the energy to worry over it anyway. Blah.

Is life really as banal as it sometimes seems for everyone in the outside world? I was wondering tonight at work how often people acted nobly in the daily grind of popular culture. As I rang up the upteenth order of Marlboros with a 30-can pack of Bud Light, standing amongst the tabloids with screaming headlines about soap operas and the even more pathetic stories of celebrity dramas, I was struck with the feeling of lonely summertime depression.

A young woman came through my line the other day: she was five or six years my senior - tops. She had a 14 month old baby in the basket of the cart, and despite being a little grimy and dressed in a rather dirty pair of footie pajamas the baby was very beautiful - he had big blue eyes, bright blonde curls and a beautiful smile. He was standing up precariously in the cart, stumbling about because Mom wasn't paying any attention to him - she was on her cell phone. When she finally hung up towards the end of the order, she next lady in line asked her how old the baby was, and she had to pause for some time and count before she could recall his age. She said he was a handful, especially when with his three-year old sister. "Well, you have quite a handful there . . " says the other lady in line. "Oh, yeah, and TWINS on the way!", said the young woman. "That's wonderful!" I said. Nobody listened. The next lady in line was looking at the young woman like she was crazy - "How did that happen?" she asked. With a tone of agreement that it was insane the young woman replied. "We took a trip to Disneyland. That's the last time we take a vacation!" she laughed. After the young woman the next lady in line kept saying how terrible that was as I was ringing up her order. "My mother had twins - they're adorable." I said to her. "Yeah, as long as you're not the one who has them!", she said. "I think my mother would disagree." I replied, "They were actually much easier to deal with in some ways - the breastfeeding was a challenge but as they got older they kept one another company, and they never cried when left with a caretaker since they had one another. I have a good chance of having twins, too, and although it scares me a bit, I don't think it's terrible." The woman did not reply to this at all, nor to my "Have a nice day." at the end of the order.

So, twins are terrible, but watching soap operas and keeping yourself posted on Angelina and Brad is enthralling? How banal these people's lives bust be.

So anyway, that's my reflection for the day. I'm using up precious dial-up minutes. ;)

Pax Christi,
Emily