More Than a Feelin'

One of the associate directors at my old job told me that Bostonians aren't friendly. For the most part, that is false, but we've noticed Whole Foods locations here (we've been to two) are an exception. The staff aren't friendly at all. The second most recent trip to the Charles River Plaza location near Mass General was a bummer for several reasons: paid parking lot and unfriendly cashier. On top of our massive grocery bill, we paid 10 bucks for parking!! We were only in there for about an hour. AC said that he said hi to the cashier and the cashier did not respond. The cashier was a punk for another reason: he did not mention that parking was validated with a $5 purchase!! I discovered this when I read the bottom of the receipt once we were home. Ugh.

The thing that drives me so crazy here is the roads...we live right off US-1, which is, for you Bay Area readers, like El Camino Real with a 50MPH limit. The exits are not all off-ramps--imagine you're speeding on El Camino at 50MPH and need to stop for gas. You simply signal and turn into the gas station, right off the road! And if you need to get to the other side of the freeway, good luck figuring out what exit will have a chance for you to turn left over the freeway. It took me 5 tries before I figured out that it wasn't the first Main St. exit, but the next one... yes, two exits named Main St. but with different cities after them. And the first 4 tries I couldn't turn left or make a U-turn--I had to find a street to turn right so I could make a U- or 3-point turn and THEN another left to get back on the right track!

And don't get me started on the rotaries...you're driving along when all of a sudden you come up to a rotary. You know, a roundabout. But with exits. So you yield to oncoming traffic, jump in when you can, and good luck if you need to cut across to take the next exit from the rotary you just entered! It is crazy and scary the first time. Visit me and you'll see what I mean. Sometimes I add sound effects if traffic is a little heavy.

One thing I do like about the parking here is that some lots have a spot next to the disabled ones for expectant mothers or parents of infants. My 20-month-old chubster is more of a toddler, but if it's the closest spot and it's open, I take it.