Dvorak's New World Symphony (Going Home)

Lately, when I spend time at home it's just for a weekend or less. A short 36-hour period in which I spend time with my family, and maybe make a grocery run with my mom. But I've been back for almost three weeks now, and time travel happens often. For instance, I haven't mowed the lawn since early high school, because I was always careful to get a job which paid. But since doing odd jobs and chores is the only way I'm making cash these days, I'm spending lots of long hours on our riding mower cutting the grass on our three acre property. It makes me feel like I'm all of thirteen again. Except now I'm listening to my iPod instead of my super-cool, totally cutting-edge portable cd player. Oh, how times have changed.

Except that they haven't. Today in Meijer's with my mom, we decided to use the self-scan. One of our items wouldn't scan and we were buying alcohol, so we had to wait for the staff to come help us. We waited and waited and finally saw that the staff on duty for the self-checkout? Was a girl I knew from high school, who has lived down the street from me for 12 years, and made fun of me all the way through high school. (Admittedly, most of my peers made fun of me all the way through high school, so it's not like it was THAT big a deal.) When she finally came over, she was very distant and wouldn't meet my eyes or my mother's. It was odd. We made it a point to greet her. She didn't even acknowledge it. Come on, you spent seven years mocking every word that came out of my mouth! At least have the common courtesy to greet me. Clearly, she had no idea who we were. Surprising, but possible. I guess. She finished checking us out and we walked away. Or at least we started walking away.

"Amanda! Amanda!" I turned around. She was looking right at me. "You forgot your receipt."

So she DID know who I was. So the ignoring game was about what? Apparently for some people high school was the zenith of their life. And here I thought that was just something you said to twelve-year-olds to make them feel better about their sucky lives.

Mom and I laughed all the way home.