Transitions of Live

Growing up I enjoyed life in a small, country area with one stoplight and more cows than people. The most important material possessions are your home (not necessarily an actual home), your truck, your farm equipment, and sometimes, your guns. In town such as that, everybody knows everybody and everybody’s family…in some cases, everybody is your family.

As can be expected, after years of the country life, when given the opportunity to run, I ran in the opposite direction. This morning I noticed for the first time the true contrast between my “new life” and my “home life.”

Thursdays are usually my best morning, as I don’t have to go into work until 9:00 am. This morning, I awoke nice and refreshed and was able to get moving rather quickly. I even was able to make myself breakfast, get all my morning routines down and with time to spare. Due to this spare time (and the lack of bottled beverages to transport to the office with me) I decided to stop at Starbucks for some coffee on my way into work. This is where the difference struck me.
It wasn’t until I was standing in line, people watching that I realized the true affluentcy of the neighborhood I now live in. The time was 8:30 am and the café was packed—not with people in line trying to get their rush before the work day started, but with “yuppies” just hanging out and talking with their neighbors. Some of the conversation centered around which colleges their children were going to attend in the fall, some were about their morning workout, and others were about their upcoming garden. Once I got over the amount of people just hanging out and discussing their lives, as if nothing else was going on or that they needed to get anywhere, I began to notice the style of dress and the vehicles in the parking lot.

You see, I live in what some people would call “the rich side of town.” The area my apartment complex is in has a community of townhomes as well as a community of $500,000 + homes, all with water views. In fact, when I look out my back door at the apartment, I too have a water view. There is a spa and an expensive chic boutique in the same area. Oh, and a Starbucks. These people have money, and nice material possessions, and they want everybody to know it. It seems as if they don’t have a care in the world.

For contrast, if you were to go into any of the country dinners in my home town (we don’t have any fancy cafes) at 8:30 in the morning, it would relatively empty. You may find a few older individuals enjoying a cup of coffee, the newspaper, and some company but other than that, the area would be slim. However, at 6:00 am, the place would be hopping with farmers and workers ready to start the day. The parking lot would be full of pickup trucks and run down farm vehicles; and the clothing would most likely be overalls. Yet, these individuals are just as happy and fulfilled with their lives (if not more so) then the “well-off” individuals spending their mornings in a uppity café.

Oh, how our lives transition us.