I moved back to Nacogdoches, Texas last September after having been gone for about 24 years. I moved back for a lot of reasons not the least of which was that I just like Nacogdoches. But that's not to say that it hasn't taken a little getting used to. After all, the last 22 years of my life has been spent in the thriving metropolis that is Dallas. There's a big difference between Big D and Naca-NoWhere as we called it back in the day. So, in October after I had finished unpacking I decided to start a new blog so that my friends could, if they chose, join me as I took on the task of familiarizing myself once again with living in a small East Texas town. So, after only three months of thinking about this blog possibility, here is my first installment of Life in Nacogdoches.
One of the things that I have learned since moving back here is that it is easier to diet in a town with limited dining options. Let's face it, you can only go to the same restaurant so many times in one week in a town this size before they start calling you by name and say something like, "Hey Susan, are you going to eat another cheeseburger???!?!?!" Not that that's happened to me.... yet. But if I didn't know better, it could. People with weight issues do not like to be reminded that they've ever eaten a single cheeseburger and they certainly don't want to be singled out like Norm walking into Cheers as they prepare to eat one.
In Plano, I went to Baker Bros deli for lunch all the time. Almost every time I went there the same guy took my order. I ordered the same salad with the same salad dressing every single time I went. Each time I went I took my salad and sat at the same table, opened my Nook and proceeded to spend an hour enjoying my Texas Cobb Salad with honey mustard dressing and iced tea while reading. I remember the guy who always took my order each time like a long lost friend. I could describe him in such vivid detail that I'm sure many of you would also recall that he took your orders on many occasions. Yet not once in the 10 years I frequented that deli and placed the same order and sat in the same location did he ever acknowledge that he had seen me before.
If there was a Baker Bros. in Nacogdoches, that guy would be asking me about my dad's most recent surgery and letting me know that his entire family was praying that this would be the last surgery necessary while he rang up my order without me uttering a word. Then he would carry my tray over to my "usual" table for me and set it down as I followed. What I'm saying is that people notice things here. It's virtually impossible to just blend into the background when you live in a place like this. And although that might be a plus for some, it's a little disquieting for me. You see I'm one of those people who likes to blend in. I prefer to go unnoticed. When I see someone I know in a grocery store, I turn the other way and pretend that I didn't see them so that I won't have to talk to them. Not because I don't like them or want to be rude. I'm just not comfortable in those situations.
A few weeks ago, I went to Kroger's in the morning for a few things for dinner. Later in the day, I remembered something else that I needed for the dinner I was making and had to go back to Kroger's for a second trip. Now, in Nacogdoches there is practically never a need for the grocery store to have more than 2 lanes open. There's the express lane and one other lane for people with more than 15 items who can actually read the sign and count that high. (Don't get me started on people with more than 15 items in the express lane!) During both trips to the store, I was only buying a few things so each time I went to the express lane to check out. On the second trip, I noticed that the same girl who had checked me out earlier in the day was still working there and I considered going to the other lane so that she wouldn't recognize me and comment on my two trips to the store in the same day. You're probably wondering why that would matter, but the thing is that I suck at polite conversation. I say stupid things and then afterwards I wonder why I said what I did. Or I simply stutter, stammer and use words that make no sense. It's the same reason that I pretend I didn't see a person that I know when I run into them at the store. Polite conversation is a mine field for some of us!
So anyway, I looked at the other lane and the woman checking out was apparently buying groceries for a family of 15 for the next 6 months. Who buys that many groceries??!?!? Since I actually had something on the stove cooking, I didn't think it would be prudent to get in line behind her. So, my only option was to use the express lane again and chance conversation with the checker. She rang my item up, told me the price, I paid and thought I was home free when she smiled and said "Have a great day.... again!" She recognized me from my earlier trip! So I uttered a few nonsensical words grabbed my bag and practically ran from the store.
In Dallas, I was able to skate through life virtually unnoticed. In Nacogdoches that could never happen. In the 4 months since I've moved back here I have thought about this a lot and I think it is all about volume. That poor guy at Baker Bros probably took 300 orders a day just during the lunch shift. Here that would be two weeks worth of lunch orders at most restaurants. Chances are if I had gone through that lunch line at Baker Bros seven times in one day, the guy taking my order would eventually have said, "Weren't you just here?" But since he took several thousand other orders between each of my orders, I guess I just wasn't that memorable.
There's one other big difference between Dallas and Nacogdoches that's even more disturbing. In Dallas, I went the last 5 or 6 years without ever going into a Walmart. It's easy there. Here, if you need a lawn chair, fire starters, paper plates and a tire gauge and you don't want to drive to Lufkin, you go to Walmart. End of story. So be on the lookout for tales from Walmart. It's sure to entertain.
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