We’ve all done it, right? We think we’re headed to a grocery store (in a new town) that doesn’t look that far away on google maps, and an hour later, we’re calling someone with internet to tell us where in the heck we are and where the grocery store is (this was more complicated for me before Derek finally got a cell phone this August–my mom and Mariel have been known to talk me through a city they’ve never been to). It’s dark, we’re lost, we just want to get home and put a load of laundry in and go to bed, but first we have to buy the one troublesome item at the elusive store. Or is it just me?
I distinctly getting lost out in west county last year when we were fairly new to St. Louis, because I didn’t realize how stinking far out Manchester goes. (You could practically take it to Columbia…) And I have hazy recollections of wandering around South Bend/Mishawaka, trying to find this mysterious Kroger that was supposedly right on my way home. But last night really takes the cake.
So there are 8 inches of snow on the ground, and Tommy runs out of rice milk at about 5 pm. I know where the Trader Joes are in the city, but I don’t want to go into the city because the roads are probably horrible. Derek comes home, and I decide to combine my errands up in Niles/Skokie (the ‘burbs just north of us) with a trip to a TJ’s that seriously looks a mile away from the Super Walmart I know and love. Well, an hour and three phone calls to Derek later, I’ve taken a tour of all of northern Chicago suburbs…visited the airport, the countryside (when you’re a Chicago resident and you see a field, something is seriously wrong!!!), and the entire environs of western Touhy Avenue. Touhy Avenue is really long. Like 10 miles long. I went back and forth over great sections of it, so I know. So when I finally find the TJ’s with 15 minutes before closing, I race in, grab 8 cartons of rice milk (I’m not coming back out there anytime in the near future), and pour out my woes to the friendly clerk. (At Trader Joes, do you need to even mention that the clerk is friendly? I don’t know what they do at their staff meetings, but I have never, ever had an unfriendly cashier or manager there, even when I’m asking annoying questions about how many cartons of rice milk I can reserve from their next shipment.) Friendly clerk admits he’d never heard of Lincoln Square. I realize you’ve gone too far in Chicago when people don’t even know your neighborhood. Soothe my sorrows with pita chips as I head back into the familiar territory of Niles/Skokie to cram into Walmart at 9:45 at night with 2,000 other people who are just getting around to buying that second space heater and humidifier. Finish my Christmas shopping at Bed, Bath, and Beyond. (Further soothe myself by using a 20% off coupon, which always makes me happy.) Call Derek to tell him that if he isn’t already in bed, he needs to please be ready to help unload because there are only so many woes that a pregnant housewife can handle late at night, and lugging in a carfull of groceries through 8 inches of snow might tip the balance to hysterics (which I’m proud to say I didn’t succumb to throughout the whole ordeal)…
Tommy and I are staying in today.
🙂
I hate getting lost! It makes me feel instantly panicked. Bravo for finding TJ and getting back home!