Curveball

Close your eyes and imagine your commute. 

Maybe you are coming home from work, coming home from picking up your kids, running to the grocery store, whichever. You are in your car driving along one of the busiest streets in your area. Then you see someone walking in the median. What does this person look like? Till about a week ago you would have gotten two different options from me, either a sketchy looking crazy looking person or a runner, plugged into their iPod. That was really all I'd seen until about a week ago, well that's really all I thought of, until five days ago. 


Five days ago, I became a third category. 


Five days ago, I was in a small car accident (my fault, no injuries, too expensive to repair) that has left me car-less. You don't need the details, because they are irrelevant to this post, but when one finds oneself without a car you are left three options: take the bus, bum a ride, or walk. I have divided up my travels equally. As a result todays commuters on West Market St got to see a different kind of street walker. A college student in jeans, t-shirt, and baseball hat with a bulging shoulder bag on one side and a gallon of apple juice in the other. 


As a child I did a unit study (homeschool geek word for spending the better part of a month on learning the ins and outs of one subject) on Germany. Of the many books I looked at I remember reading in one how people in Germany do not often use supermarkets. Instead they walk to the markets daily and buy only what they need for the day because they are carrying it. I was so inspired by this. How relaxing and energizing. Another attraction for me was getting to grocery shop every day. I love grocery shopping. I don't know why. My mother and I both suspected that when I would have to start spending my money not hers it would loose the attraction. It hasn't. But I digress. Since I read that bit about Germany it has been my goal to live in a place where I can walk to the grocery store. I was in fact a tad envious when my brother and sister in law moved into town, just a few blocks from the grocery store of my hometown. Then I moved to Greensboro, and an apartment a mere mile or so from the nearest Harris Teeter. I spent the first eight months of my residence imagining that one day I would walk. Enter the problem. Cars. 


We take them for granted, yes. I know this for certain as I feel like a middle schooler again, getting picked up and dropped off by my roommate and kind friend, Katie. However, I also let my car cripple me. I am under a 30 minute walk from the grocery store. That is more than doable. But for 8 months I would chicken out at the last minute and take my car. Then I did not have a car, and I finally had no excuse not to try. I've been twice in the last 5 days.


These experiences have helped me in my journey to know Greensboro as a city and here are the pros and cons of what I've learned. 


Pro: My walk to the grocery store takes me through the most amazing old neighborhood. I now aspire to one day live in one similar. Old neighborhoods are the best. They have huge, storytelling trees, and lovely natural looking landscaping. Not to knock new developments, but God help me if I ever reside in one. They are somewhat heinous. 


Con: For all the "green" initiative my city has, it litters like nobody's business. Truly frightful in some areas. 


Pro: I can walk to everywhere essentially. 


Con: This is my latest pet peeve of large cities. It takes so long to get places after you get there. Example: It takes me about 15 to 20 minutes to walk from my apartment complex to the Friendly Center, but another 5 to ten minutes to get where I need to be in the Friendly Center and five minutes to get from the start of my complex to my building. Or it takes about 5 minutes to ride the bus from my street (3 minute walk from my house) to campus, but an extra ten minutes to get to my building. Where I'm from when you go somewhere, you get there when you arrive. You don't go to the Ingles and then have to walk (or drive) another ten minutes to get the store. 


Pro: Exercise! Not only did I walk for a good 3 miles today the last half was with 4 quarts of strawberries, on bag of lettuce, one cucumber, one bottle salad dressing, on loaf of bread, and one gallon of apple juice. Extra calories burned!
(Side note: Harris Teeter is super expensive, until there is a sale. Today I spent $18.22 with savings $14.74 on in house sales. This year to date my in house savings have been $68.67. Strawberries 4 for $5 and apple juice 2 for $3)


Con: I'm out of cons, but another Pro is I get to see a closer look at the people, houses, and nature that make up the world around me. Beautiful. 


Small digression. I have through these experiences been convicted of two small ways I judge people. One: people who get in car accidents, or more specifically people who rear-end others. Surely they must be incompetent, and maybe they are, but I have now joined the ranks. And second, anyone who is walking along streets, not exercising or headed to class, must be trouble. I became aware of this painfully as I walked along the streets and through the Friendly Center and imagined what I would think if I saw me from my car. Two things to think about. 


In the end, I am reminded of a quote from one of my favorite quirky movies: Extreme Days(2001), at the end of this movie the narrator, Will, says, "When God throws a curveball, don't duck, you just might miss something." That always stuck with me and its times like this that remind me why. Losing your freedom of transportation is a curveball for sure and I am doing my best to not duck or run the other direction, but rather adjust my position to hit it head on and keep on playing the game. 

"Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything." 

-James 1:2-4