Four Dead "Birds"
Sep. 9th, 2005 09:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
livingdebToday I killed four birds with one stone. I saved gas, got exercise, went grocery shopping, and kept Robin happy.
I asked Robin to drop me off at the store on his way to dance class. (That's not the happy Robin part; he'd rather I came with him to class, but as Phoebe on "Friends" once said, "I really wish I could, but I don't want to.")
I brought a backpack and wallet (and cell phone) and went shopping. By myself, because Robin hates going to that store. (The employees do all kinds of things that are easily interpretable as treating us as potential thieves. You know. Like at every other chain except Whole Foods.)
Then I stuffed everything into the backpack and walked home, looking at the houses and yards on the way. It took me forty minutes, so it's about two miles. My backpack was heavy, but not backpacking-trip grade. I had a gallon of milk, three cans of concentrated juice, a big bag of chocolate chips, and a few other small things. Your basic staples.
The bad part is that it was already starting to get pretty dark by 8:00 when I left. I stayed on sidewalks the whole way for safety.
I actually saw several pedestrians, and less then half of them were walking dogs (3) or holding up signs asking for help (2). I also noticed bicyclists. I felt like I was in some sort of secret underground society of people sneaking across the land with the audacity not to be using gas.
I also smelled a few strange smells. Most of them I couldn't identify. But I did get some free pot.
I used to do pedestrian shopping all the time (once a week) back when I didn't have a car. I always lived somewhere that was only a twenty-minute walk from a grocery store (or from the store to the bus and from the bus home), and I just considered it my aerobic exercise for the day. (When I lived on the bus routes, I always bought myself a treat to eat while waiting for the bus to help myself look forward to the trip.) Back then I'd have the backpack of heavy things plus a paper bag of lighter things--today was easy compared to that. But now it's a big enough deal to hog my whole journal entry.
I asked Robin to drop me off at the store on his way to dance class. (That's not the happy Robin part; he'd rather I came with him to class, but as Phoebe on "Friends" once said, "I really wish I could, but I don't want to.")
I brought a backpack and wallet (and cell phone) and went shopping. By myself, because Robin hates going to that store. (The employees do all kinds of things that are easily interpretable as treating us as potential thieves. You know. Like at every other chain except Whole Foods.)
Then I stuffed everything into the backpack and walked home, looking at the houses and yards on the way. It took me forty minutes, so it's about two miles. My backpack was heavy, but not backpacking-trip grade. I had a gallon of milk, three cans of concentrated juice, a big bag of chocolate chips, and a few other small things. Your basic staples.
The bad part is that it was already starting to get pretty dark by 8:00 when I left. I stayed on sidewalks the whole way for safety.
I actually saw several pedestrians, and less then half of them were walking dogs (3) or holding up signs asking for help (2). I also noticed bicyclists. I felt like I was in some sort of secret underground society of people sneaking across the land with the audacity not to be using gas.
I also smelled a few strange smells. Most of them I couldn't identify. But I did get some free pot.
I used to do pedestrian shopping all the time (once a week) back when I didn't have a car. I always lived somewhere that was only a twenty-minute walk from a grocery store (or from the store to the bus and from the bus home), and I just considered it my aerobic exercise for the day. (When I lived on the bus routes, I always bought myself a treat to eat while waiting for the bus to help myself look forward to the trip.) Back then I'd have the backpack of heavy things plus a paper bag of lighter things--today was easy compared to that. But now it's a big enough deal to hog my whole journal entry.