12.08.2010

It's the little things

1. There’s a little grocery-thing-place (yep, that’s what they’re called. I know things.) on my walk into work; I stop there all the time because they make a hell of a bagel sandwich, and I can’t resist a good bagel sandwich. They also sell other grocery-thing-place-type-foods (yep, that’s also the technical name for that. I know more than you thought.) including pre-made fruit salad. Normally it has grapes, kiwi, honeydew melon, and cantaloupe. I…do not care for cantaloupe. It’s not that I don’t like the taste, but it bothers me. Unless it’s wrapped in prosciutto, I don’t want it. Anyway, what? Oh – so, there are some magical days where, I don’t know, they run out of cantaloupe or something, and substitute MANGOES! This is the equivalent of me winning the lottery. So, this morning, I am a proud owner of a delicious bagel sandwich and a perfectly assembled fruit salad.

2. When you step off of the elevator on the 15th floor, where I reside, there is a small hall table in the “waiting for the elevator area” (wow, I am full of vocab today). When I first moved in, there were 3 cans of vegetables sitting there. And then they were gone. And then came a book*. And then a small vase. And then a loaf of bread. And then one package of pancake mix. I am beyond fascinated with this – I can’t wait to see what comes next!

3. People I wait with at the bus stop sometimes: The Family With The Kid That Throws A Tantrum Unless He Can Watch His Dad’s iPad And I Silently Judge Their Parenting (Even Though I Have No Experience In This Area), Lesbian Couple From The Other Building, Guy That I’m Pretty Sure Wore Those Sketcher Toner Shoes, And Even Though He Is Really Nice And Dresses Really Nicely I Can’t Get Those Shoes Out Of My Head. I wonder how they view me? Probably “The Girl Who Always Has Earphones In And Plays Angry Birds and Never Really Talks To Us Much”

What I’m saying is, I love the little things. Whether it’s a place, or people, or cans of vegetables on a hall table. The little things that, when they change, you suddenly realize are a part of your life, albeit weirdly so.

*I walk into the apartment like 4 days after seeing the book on the table, only to see that book on our dining room table. I ask Courtney, “Is that the book from the hall table!?” She says excitedly: “ YEAH! I have the other one in the series by that author, so I grabbed it!” So now that our apartment has benefitted from this crazy thing, at what point do I/we need to donate something? And what should I donate? The more random the better – I want to be a proponent of this Hall Table Gift Mystery!

4 comments:

meghan said...

I love this! And I especially love the Gift Table of Mystery. Hmm, what to leave... What about a can opener? Or a light bulb!

ro! said...

awesome! we do this at work with food. people will just leave extra food in the kitchen and it will disappear by the end of the day.

KK said...

I LOVE the gift table of mystery, that is awesome. You should leave something - it's always fun to see how quickly something you don't need is taken by someone else. Also - I bet after Christmas it will be super busy with unwanted gifts.

Also - I was talking to my coworkers about this recently. There's so much comfort in reliability. Like, I know my one coworker will only get certain foods from the dining hall. So if I'm with her and she has a to-go container, it always has the same 5 things. I know several of my coworkers coffee orders by heart. It's lovely.

Dan said...

It always seems to be a "thing" in KK's family to put a half-burnt candle in the white elephant gifts. Yup, I'm the guy who ended up with only half a candle worth's of joy. Hilarious, yet useful gift! As long as it doesn't smell like butter cream or whatever crap seasonal aroma is always 30% off at Target.