by lucy on September 2, 2010
I have moved to a tourist town. It is interesting living in such an environment. Now, I don’t live in a big city type tourist town. You know like NYC, LA, Miami and so on. Nope, I live in a teeny tiny little town. It is beautiful. It is a small quiet town in Arizona but it does attract the tourist. Sedona, Arizona is called Red Rock Country because of it’s beautiful Red Rock formations and it is only 4 hours away from the Grand Canyon. Therefore, many tourist will swing by and visit Sedona after viewing the Grand Canyon. In addition, Sedona is cooler in climate than other parts of Arizona and it is a weekend get away especially for those living in the hot Phoenix area.
What does all of this mean??? Tourist mentality!! What is TOURIST MENTALITY?? You know, people saunter wherever they want. They do not follow any of the normal walking rules and forget DRIVING RULES. Man, those things go out the window when people are on vacation!!
It really is amazing that we don’t read about more people dying on vacation. But, see what I have learned living here is that WE, the PEOPLE LIVING HERE learn quickly to adjust to the TOURIST. I drive very carefully. Honestly, people saunter across the street at any point in the street and they assume you will stop. We joke now, 10 bucks for that tourist, 20 bucks for that one and so on. Depends on the day and how pissed at the price tag on their head.
Tourist driving is by far the worse, the absolute worse. They stop right in the middle of the road when they don’t know where to turn. I mean it is amazing there are not more fender benders. They make left turns from the wrong lane and forget them going into the center lane to turn. It is like they forget the use of the center lane. Oh, my gosh and they drive like 10mph because they are afraid they will miss their turn. Here is a thought if you miss your turn you can turn around and go back!!!!
Now, in Sedona it is all about the views. Therefore it gets even more dangerous. Why you ask? People just stop! Literally, just when the fancy hits them and slightly pull off the road and snap pictures. Typically, there isn’t a lot of room for this and it is not safe. I have to admit Sedona finally addressed the issue and did some major roadwork to try and make this safer but the city couldn’t cover all the beautiful areas. In addition, Sedona is careful about disturbing the beauty. Therefore, unsafe pulling over still happens. Oh, and then the people hanging out of their cars snapping pictures or driving and snapping pictures, not safe, not safe at all.
U Turns galore. People just turn the car around in the middle of the road at any point. Oh and I do mean any point. The other day we were driving home and this young lady was doing a U Turn on the large hill on the MAIN HIGHWAY in Sedona. As we came down the hill us along with several other cars all slowed down while this young lady did her U Turn. She just laughed as we stopped and waited. Please try to envision just driving down a four way highway and coming over a hill to see a car doing a U TURN across all FOUR lanes stopping ALL TRAFFIC. C’mon this doesn’t happen in your daily life and you know it!!
Anyways, I am doing my best to adjust. I am the city girl living in a small tourist town. I hope you don’t see me on the news one day for killing a tourist. I swear it would be an accident but send me my 20 bucks because I will need it!!!
by lucy on August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26th, SUCKED!!! I packed my baby girl up and sent her off to college!!! The day sucked. I cried in the shower. I then finished doing her wash and double checked the house and like all young adults she forgot to pack shit. No matter how old your kids get you still double check their packing (LOL). My little one forgot her large deodorant and womanly products I bought her!! Anyways, we got her all packed up and headed off to the school. Oh, she is lucky. Her school is beautiful. Her dorm room is decent , for a dorm room. Actually much bigger than her brother’s dorm room.
Oh, unloading her was sooo much fun!!! NOT!! Somehow I am still amazed by other people and their attitudes! In addition, Parents that spoil their kids drive me insane. I truly believe it is WRONG. The kids grow up to be IMPOSSIBLE!! So, we get to the University. We pull up and the student volunteers inform us that the STUDENT needs to check in before we begin to unload. My Maddie takes off for check in I lag behind! She steps up to the table and does all her check in. I stand in a corner and wait. No, better I watch the others check in. What do I observe. ALL the other MOMS check in their children. WTF?? I hear many of the students ask, is this the student and they make eye contact with the ‘child’ (keep in mind most are probably 18) and they start talking to the STUDENT but MOM stays right there and GRABS all the paperwork, WTF?? My Maddie comes over to me and says, “Hey, let’s head up to my room and then we will go back to the car and grab stuff. I glance back and see Moms with keys in their hands. I say to Maddie, “Wow, I wonder if they are going to class with their little darlings too?” You know I may have been sad about letting my little one go but I never showed it. In addition, I had mixed feelings I was excited for her too and I certainly never cried in front of her. I can only imagine how those moms most of behaved when leaving!!
Now, unloading. Ohmygosh. I have to tell you what happened. We were carrying whole a bunch of shit, you know as much as you can so you can do as little trips as possible AND we were taking the stairs because the elevator was jammed and the wait was too long. A lot of people were using the steps. It was a nice balance. Anyways, we get to the steps and a family is coming DOWN, Empty handed and a little one is slowly coming down the steps, he is probably 4 at the oldest and mom and Grandma (Guess the whole Fucking family went to drop off the STUDENT) just think it is sooo cute how he is slowly going down the steps by himself like a big boy and counting the steps on his way down. In the meantime, we are waiting at the bottom for this CHERUB to come down AND our hands and arms full. My husband, Anthony, is holding A case of water with things stacked on it and the mom says, ” C’mon sweetie hurry up, we are tired and they are waiting.” The kid continues at his pace and she just smiles at us as sweat is dripping off of Anthony. I chose not to smile back. Are you fucking kidding me? I wanted to say, pick his ass up. We are dying, are hands and arms are full. You guys are coming down and you have nothing in your hands. Sorry we don’t think your little toddler is adorable right now?? Why do moms think we all find their little ones to be adorable counting the steps?? Um, yeah, we all have watched our children do it and it is cute but not when it is HOT and we are UNLOADING our kid’s shit. I mean there is a time and place. Here is a thought, maybe Grandma should have watched the kid for the day and then they could have come to visit on FAMILY WEEKEND! Think people Think. Or at least move your little cherub when IT IS IN THE WAY. Like, my husband said, “Man she would have been pissed if I would have dropped something on her little guy.” I swear people just don’t think of others.
Well, we somehow get Maddie unloaded and settled in her room. Maddie needed a few items so we took her to the Target. Man oh Man. Target was in heaven that day. This Target is located right on the edge of campus. Everyone was there. Holy Moly the place was packed. We got Maddie her items and we took her back and then the dreaded time came. The Goodbye. I hugged her and took off. Clean and quick. Oh, it was soooo hard to leave my baby girl. I did not want her to see me cry. I knew she was a little scared herself and I wanted to be strong for her. They were having a barbecue and some girls had stopped by to introduce themselves so I knew she would be okay but it still was hard.
We left. I cried. I cried and cried. My husband babbled. I can’t even tell you what he babbled about. Anthony was trying hard to distract me. I know he can’t stand to see me cry and sad but right now life is hard. I know my kids are happy. I know they are doing what THEY SHOULD AND NEED TO DO but still being a MOM has been my first priority for so long. Yes, I am still a mom but I mean I have been what I guess those of you call a traditional mom. I have always worked but it was pretty much part time. MY CHOICE. I do not regret this choice. I have loved the life we lived but now it is hard. I did not build my career and now I sit. My first JOB is completed. I don’t have a shit load of wash to do. I don’t have lunches to make or family dinners. I don’t have huge grocery shopping. I don’t have to clean as much either. Okay, so some stuff sounds delightful (LOL) but I miss the noise. I miss my kids. I miss MY JOB!!!
Oh, my pity party will end! I will get use to the change it will just take some time. I have already been exploring options!! Just another transition in life and you all know how transitions can be, both fun and scary. This one is little sad too! I am incredibly proud of my children. I want them to fly but I still miss them!!!!