I hate going to the Charlottesville Downtown Mall. I didn’t like it even before they opened the parking garage and said, “Come and in and park. We’ll read your license plate and if you flash your credit card to us (and anybody else in cyber space) and we’ll let you park here without checking in at a gate. Nobody else will ever see your credit card, we double-pinkie promise.”
So, I no longer patronize the People’s Republic of Downtown Charlottesville, except I was recently asked to go Downtown and pick up a repaired ring at Tuel’s Jewelry.
There is only one person in the whole world I would go Downtown for, and that’s my wife Nancy, who I love dearly – that and the fact that she has faithfully been doing my laundry for over 50 years. I figured that much laundry is worth one trip Downtown.
Knowing that I would not be parking at the Trust-Me Garage, I began searching for the first available parking space as soon as I entered the dreaded area. I saw one right away and quickly parked. It would be a leisurely half mile walk to Tuel’s, but, hey, I can use the exercise.
I began my hike and entered the street-less mall. It was around noon, but there were only 20 or 25 people out and about. I expect 8 or 10 of them had actual homes.
I finally made it to Tuel’s after my long stroll and picked up the ring. They are nice folks, by the way. Too bad they have been sentenced to their place of business on the you-know-what.
With ring in hand, I began the long journey back. To break up the trip, I stopped for a while and sat on a bench to feed some pigeons. Finally, I reached my car and found it with all the tires still on, which was a pleasant surprise.
If Nancy ever asks me to go back to Tuel’s for some other reason, I’ll have to say, “Sorry. That’ll cost you another 50 years of laundry.”
