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On Singing in the Rain
Aug. 2nd, 2011 08:23 pmHi all,
But I drove over to my favorite restaurant by the mall anyway -- and discovered no nearby open parking. Parking at this mall has been a problem since they added on to the mall. There's now a B&N, North Face, and a couple of restaurants in the new attached extension, plus two unattached restaurants and an unattached movie theater. And they built a pedestrian mall between the mall itself and the detached restaurants. Which is fine, and nice and all -- but they tore out all the parking.
I should have realised things were not going to be perfect when I couldn't find a parking spot in the little parking that remains in the L-shaped lot between the pedestrian mall and Penney's. But no... I drove around the other side and parked in front of the theater. And, since it was sprinkling, I even took my lightweight jacket with me.
Now, the walk from my car to the restaurant (attached to the mall) felt like a mile, but in a sense I enjoyed it. And I got to the restaurant and it was 45 minutes for a table or sit at the bar -- so I sat at the bar. I've done that before, and now that there's no smoking in restaurants - it's OK.
So I ordered my regular meal -- cocktail, spinach & artichoke dip, baked mac & cheese with chicken, and Irish coffee for dessert -- I know, it sounds heavy, but it's a yummy meal and half to two-thirds of the mac and cheese goes home for lunch. Anyway, it was a nice meal, but when I got to the door -- it was POURING outside. I put my jacket on, but it doesn't button or zip up (this is a light weight, non-waterproof field coat minus buttons that I keep in the car). Well, there's nothing for it. I'm going to have to walk. And no point in running, because the chances are pretty good I'd slip and fall -- which would be worse than getting really wet.
So I'm walking and walking, in the pouring rain, feet getting soaked, shirt getting soaked, and I suddenly think, hum, "Singin' in the Rain". And it's warm, and it's raining, so I start to sing, quietly, to myself -- "Singin' in the Rain". I only know the first couple of lines, so I sing those, hum the rest, and make my way down the long walk across the pedestrian mall, down past the theater, in front of the theater and to the other parking lot where my car is. And it helped. I wouldn't say I was cheerful, but I definitely felt better about the fact that I looked like a total drowned rat, I had water pouring down my face, I could barely see through my steamy and wet glasses, and my feet were soaked through.
When I finally got to the car, dreading a long drive home in wet clothes, I saw a knit jacket top in the back seat. I put my stuff in the back -- purse, leftovers, etc, and got in the front. I also put the top on my front passenger seat. I took off my wet jacket and threw it in the back. Now, I was wearing a camisole, which provides more coverage than a sports-bra, and women around here jog in those things. I looked around, and not seeing anyone, took the soaking wet T-shirt off, and put on the top, then buttoned that. It was dry and warm (almost too warm), but at least it wasn't wet and dirty (I had, of course, dropped some of my dinner on my shirt). Anyway, I didn't get caught -- and I still think no one would have seen anything anyway, I kept my camisole on and I was in my own car.
But, Singing in the rain? Definitely helped the whole situation from feeling much worse.
--Olivia
