Saturday, January 5, 2008

Garrett said, “If anyone thinks socialized medicine is a good idea, they should come here first.” We arrived at Lab Corps at 7:10. We were told to be there as close to opening as possible because it was only open from 7-11. When we arrived, at least 20 faces turned our way. Not a single chair was available in the waiting room. For the hour we waited, there were no fewer people; in fact, overflow went into the hall. Some people had arrived at 6:30. I thought waits like that only happened in other countries.

Afterward, we had breakfast at Tiffany’s. No, no jewelry in sight. No Holly Golightly, either. It’s a cute Art Deco diner on Route 17 that has Tiffany lamps all over the place. The waiters dress in slacks and ties--at a diner! I was so hungry I ate my breakfast and half of Garrett’s. For those of you who know us, this is atypical. First of all, Garrett let me take food off his plate. (Once I asked him to hold an ice cream cone while I buckled my seatbelt. When I turned around, he’d eaten it.) Secondly, I don’t usually consume all of my own breakfast, much less someone else’s. Yes, it was that good.

By lunch I was starving again. We walked down the street from our apartment to check out the local diner. Christmas greetings were still up in English, Greek, and Spanish. Everyone greeted us with a smile. I keep saying I feel like this little place is like Star’s Hollow from Gilmore Girls. If so, this is a friendly Luke’s. Hooray! We’d just ordered when Sears called an hour early to say they were five minutes away with our mattress. Garrett ran to meet them. Our helpful waitress kept the food warm until I asked her to sack it up for us. I met Garrett crossing the street, and we had our first meal in our home. Even cold, the food was great.

Later, we spent more time and money at IKEA. It’s a pretty amazing place when they create furniture that allows a chest of drawers, two bedside tables, a chair and ottoman to fit neatly in your trunk. It may not be the highest quality, but it certainly is convenient.

Wal-Mart called to us and we answered. So did a lot of other people. They were all draped in long dark coats and hats. The men didn’t look me in the eye and one made a bit of a dramatic lunge to keep me from running into him as we passed on the aisle. I’ve never seen so many Hassidic Jews in one place—even when we happened upon the Israeli Independence Day Parade in NYC last year with my parents.