Tuesday, December 2, 2008

ain't ready for the acrylics

Hellooooo, Newman.

I am back in R-VA after a lovely trip to my hometown. I didn't see all the people I wanted to, but I still got to have some good times.

I really think the shopping is better in Columbus than Richmond. I'm probably biased because I know C-bus so well, but even after a year and some change in Richmond I still don't get that jazzed about shopping like I do when I'm home. I know where all the same stores are located here, but I dunno.

Maybe it's the company. My Richmond friends aren't mallrats the way my Columbus friends and I are. It's probably because Columbus is a huge test market for a lot of stores, restaurants, and products, and we're a little spoiled by it. For example: Hello Kitty pop tarts. We have them back home at Meijer, but a.) there are no Meijers in Richmond, and b.) there are no Hello Kitty (or raspberry, for that matter) pop tarts to be found here anyway.

When people ask what Meijer is, I tell them it's Wal-Mart minus the Ick Factor. It's the love child of Ukrop's and Wal-Mart. The homeyness of Ukrop's with the size, prices, and selection of Wal-Mart. win-win situation.

But that's cool. You know. I don't need Hello Kitty pop tarts. No big deal.

Anyway, going home afforded me the opportunity to go through all my old stuff to look for things to take back with me. I brought scrubs, because I'm hoping to get a med tech job here very soon. I brought some old textbooks, some clothes, and some art supplies, but I still left so much behind because I don't feel all that settled yet.

I feel settled enough to bring the colored pencils and craft scissors, but not enough to bring the oil paints and the easel. Ya dig? There's a metaphor in there somewhere.

4 comments:

Beth said...

I still pine for Meijer. I keep hoping that someday they'll expand and be down here, but that's probably a pipe dream.

Cary McNeal said...

Wal-Mart minus the ick. Ha!

Target is the best store around these parts.

We went to Richmond a couple of times when we lived in Va, but I can't say that I loved it. Of course, visiting a place and living there are two different things entirely.

Anonymous said...

Man, Meijer feels way ickier to me. I think it's the low lighting and overwhelming number of kitten-related shirts.

I'm the same way you are with my stuff, though. There for a while, I was transporting a suitcase full of knick-knacks here with me on every trip home. I never brought the important stuff like my writing or my books with me, knowing that I'd return sooner rather than later. But then they enacted that $15 bag charge on airlines, so now I just have to stuff as many Walmart purchases as possible into my carry-ons.

Unknown said...

Actually, Meijer came first. The Super Wal-Marts and Super Targets and other Super stores are all based on Meijer's. I lived in Michigan in the late 1980s, early 1990s, and fell in love with Meijer there. A few years later, when Wal-Mart started building superstores, I immediately noticed that Wal-Mart had even taken Meijer's floor plan.