Well, what could be more dull than the sharing of lunchtime errand-running activities? I'm not sure there's anything, but hey! Every day can't be a circus okay!
People are always coming into the bank during their lunch hour. I'd say the period from 12:30-1:30 is the busiest all day, and people tend to be very curt and impatient during that period. Seeing this phenomenon every day makes me loathe to go run errands on my lunch as I really dislike the idea of being in that kind of rush. I feel like lunchtime is for relaxing, renewing...I safeguard that time pretty devotedly.
But today I weighed the options of getting up extra early before work, or staying in the area later than necessary after work, and decided that the lunch hour was definitely the best time to take care of a little business.
Today's New Activity: Leisurely Lunch Hour at Costco
Turns out 2:30 in the afternoon is the absolute best possible time to go to Costco! There weren't any of the ridiculous hoards of people and yet they were still handing out samples. Perfect. I just needed laundry detergent, coffee and tortillas (no home of mine is on track unless there is a giant stack of tortillas nearby), so the actual shopping part was quick and left plenty of time for me to sit and enjoy a slice of pizza (which is really good as long as you finish it within 15 minutes, before the cheese has time to congeal into a hunk of nastiness that could choke a person). That's the other thing: there was actually space at the eatin' benches at that hour.
What I feared would be a stressful and thoroughly unpleasant way to pass my lunch ended up being pretty mellow and refreshing. It was also much nicer to be out among people than in the woefully fluorescent-lit break room. At least that's how I felt today.
And one more thing: while I was sitting in the little eatery area, a girl about 4 years old at the next table over took a terrible dive and landed right on her head. She was crying so hard at first that no sound was coming out, and her Mama scooped her up in one graceful movement, kissing her over and over and hugging her tight. I felt so strongly for this Mama/daughter duo that I could have cried myself. I know that feeling of wanting so badly for your baby's pain to cease immediately and feeling helpless to make that happen. Logic dictates, when you see another child get hurt, that the child will be fine. It isn't until I became a parent myself that I understood how logic can kind of fly out the window when it's your own child who's hurt. The idea that "this hurts me more than it hurts you" finally makes sense to me.
And there's more there...I feel like becoming a Mama to your own child just sort of makes you Mama to the world's children. Seeing a child in pain automatically hits a parental protective nerve that makes me wanna reach out and throw my own hugs and kisses into the mix in the futile hope to somehow speed up the healing process. And while I was, of course, always horrified to hear news of a child being kidnapped or harmed before, I feel such news on a whole new level now. Learning of any child's mistreatment affects me to the point of physical near-sickness now. I find it very difficult to imagine how anybody could hurt a child, and the thought of a parent having to live through the aching knowledge of their child's pain truly makes me want to vomit. It is remarkable to me: the power of that parent/child bond and the inherent need it instills in us to protect children...all the children. It's a wonderful, beautiful thing, but it is also sometimes a very heavy weight to bear.
Parents...ALL you parents out there. I salute you. Your job is truly among the most challenging out there.
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