Speeding
As I sat through my final class of the day I could not help but watch the clock and of course this meant that I had no idea what my professor was talking about. I had just started to write down every country in Africa from memory when he said we were free to go. Finally! Could that class have taken any longer? Okay now just quick meeting at the Yale Daily News, and then your almost home free. You can do this, just concentrate.
Of course that "quick" meeting ended up being forty-five minutes long. Why, today of all days! I mean really people what did I ever do to you? You couldn't have wrapped that up in ten minutes?
As I ran to my car that was parked in the back of the parking lot I looked at list of things I had to do before going home. So first I have to pick up the dry cleaning, stop at the pharmacy, and then stop at the grocery store.
Steering the car onto the highway I made my way to West part of the city. Thankfully rush hour had not started yet. Looking out the windshield I realized how fast everything around me was growing, I had only moved here three years ago and yet there was already a East end and a West end of the city. Breaking out of my trance I cut across two lanes to get off onto my exit. Thankfully there weren't that many people on the road.
Turning off the main road I located the car into the dry cleaners parking lot. I quickly parked and turned the car off before rushing into the building and walked to the counter.
"Hi, can I help you?" the man behind the counter politely asked.
"Yea I need to pick up my order," I told him.
"Okay do you have your order ticket?" he asked. I flipped open my wallet and fished out the thin piece of paper with my order info on it. "Okay thanks, I'll be right back," after giving me a quick smile he walked to the back to get my clothes. A minute later he returned with four long bags in his hands. I quickly thanked him and hurried out the door.
Okay dry cleaners is done, now I just have to stop at the pharmacy and then to the store. As I maneuvered the car back onto the main road I drove about a mile to the pharmacy. Once again I ran in got what I needed and ran back out. Wow, I'm getting pretty good at this. Last stop the grocery store. Now all I had to do is go back to the East side of town to the store and then home.
I got back on to the highway and sped (just a little bit) to my exit.Okay just one more stop and you can get home and relax. Once again as if lost in a trance I almost missed my exit, this time I only had to cut across one lane of traffic. But the road was busier than before and I heard a couple honks as I drove down the exit ramp.
It took me a moment to remember which store had the sale I wanted and then to remember how to get to it with the new construction work. Figuring that Washington would be a better bet I quickly turned right and drove to the crowded grocery store. By now it was almost rush hour so the people that had managed to get off work a little early were already hurrying to do some last minute shopping like myself. After scanning the parking lot for a few seconds I found a parking spot and quickly parked my car in it. As I turned the car off and got out of the car I almost forgot my purse. Grabbing it quickly I ran down the side of the driving way and into the side entrance of the store.
After a few minutes of running up and down isles to get last minute supplies for dinner tonight and food for the weekend. I found the shortest line and dashed to it. After what felt like five minutes I was at the check out and the cashier was slowly ringing in my food. I started to tap my foot impatiently. Come on, some of us would like to get out of this store before we die! Why do I always have to be in the slowest person's lane when I'm in a hurry? "Would you like paper or plastic?" the bag-boy asked me.
"Plastic is fine," I replied as nicely as I could.
"Okay that will be fifty-two dollars and seventy-five cents," the slow cash register boy told me. Quickly I swiped my credit card through the machine, okayed the purchase and signed on the little computer pad. I grabbed my bags and was out the door faster than he could say "Thank you and com again."
Practically sprinting through the ever growing traffic in the parking lot I got to my car, unlocked the doors, and put my bags in the back seat. Getting in the front seat I started the engine and pulled out of the spot, forgetting to check my mirrors I almost backed into another car. Letting them pass a then checked my mirrors and backed out once again.
Speeding out of the parking lot I turned out onto the busy road. It was now rush hour and cars seemed to be coming from everywhere. The city lights had already started to come on as well as the head lights of the other vehicles. I wasn't really paying attention when I turned out onto the highway to go home and all I saw was a mess of lights and the blaring of horns. And then everything went black.
