I went to watch a movie. I drove into the parking lot to park, and the cars were jammed into parking spots that had been striped for cars of the 1950s. They were not wide and the slant of the lines reminded me of the way striping had been done in small towns right after WWII. But, I found one of those narrow spaces and parked.
I got out and joined a line in front of a ticket office, box-office style. The line had about 50-60 people in it. Only one person was issuing tickets at the box office window, so it was going to take about 15 minutes before I was going to be served. I had not seen that arrangement since I went on a date in my high school years.
After the line to get tickets, I went inside. Yep, another single-file line. I snaked by the popcorn counter, the drink counter (where a person took my order and filled my drinks for me - now how many years ago was self-service phased in?). It went by the candy stand and finally ended up at the cash register. I paid, went in to the show. At least it had stadium seating. But the seats were the two-piece kind where the seat part was separate from the back part and folded down by sitting on its edge to get it to move.
The show I was seeing fit the decor. It was a movie set in the 1970s but many of the buildings were in the architectural style of the 1950s. On the way out, I stopped into the bathrooms. I flushed my own toilet used a push button soap dispenser and crank down towels from a front loaded lever.
I had experienced a time trap. I really had not been ready for it. I certainly didn't appreciate it. And it reminded me of times that were not some of my best days. I guess I needed that reminder. Life is still not easy, but it is so much better now than it had been then, that I actually felt kicked and bruised from having visited the theater. I made note that I didn't need such a visit to appreciate what I have now. The visit had certainly been a stark reminder of some rugged days passed and to which I hope never to return.
No comments:
Post a Comment