Thursday, December 30, 2010

This is why I hate the suburbs

A.: Watch the pan, please? I'm going to look for my CharlieCard.
Mom: We'll drive you.
A.: I'll at least take the T back.
Mom: We can pick you up...
A.: Or just let me borrow the car.
Mom: No! Where are you going to park, especially with so much snow?
A.: Good point. Anyway, it's not a problem to T back.
Mom: We're going to have to pick you up anyway, may as well drive for five more minutes than you waiting for the train and then taking another half-hour to get to the T stop.
A.: Can I at least T back to Cleveland Circle?
Mom: Why? What's the point?
A.: Save you having to drive down Beacon.
Mom: Whatever. There's nowhere to pull over by Cleveland Circle, anyway.
A.: I really can just T back...
Mom: We can just pick you up.

This is all very nice of my parents, but it's a reminder of how annoying it is to not live near a T stop. When I lived in Boston, I lived right on the T. Getting around wasn't an issue.

***
We actually drove by Cleveland Circle on the way to the hospital the other day. It looked like Circle Cinema had closed. That place was a local institution. As a child, we'd go to birthday parties at the Ground Round next door (long since replaced by a chain of other stakehouses and such) and then go see a movie. As a teenager, we'd very often go to Circle--I have many memories of seeing movies there, including one that stands out especially. It was the day before Thanksgiving, so school got out early--and it was also the first snow of the season. What did we go see--was it Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein"? Anyway, it's too bad that place has closed.

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