My inspiration today actually came from a lady’s T-shirt I spied while checking out at Walmart. The drudgery of walking back and forth from one end of the store to another (more than one time mind you because something was missed on the list or thought of after the fact) finally ended or so I thought. OOPS! Forgot the cream cheese and sour cream for the cheesecake:>(
[Hubby bakes KILLER cheesecakes for friends and family on birthdays and one is coming up next week.]
He waits in line while I trudge one more time to the lower forty for the forgotten items. Along the way, I see the graham crackers needed for the crust and don’t remember if we have any at home. Grabbed a box plus a box of powdered milk. Needed four 8-oz packages cream cheese and one 8-oz carton sour cream. Got those. Turned to head back to checkout and noticed the butter. Oh, dear, do we have extras in the freezer? Not sure, snatched up one pound. Made a right-hand final turn toward the front of the store and there it was – Hershey’s Syrup in the can! Glaring down at me with imaginative signs of oozing chocolate waiting to be licked! [When hubby bakes cheesecakes there is always enough for a tiny cheesecake sample for all the hard work. Wouldn’t that thick, rich Hershey’s Syrup be great drizzled over the top? And, o-o-o-oh, it is so much better in the can and not always available or that easy to find.]
Reinactment!
Now, remember, I already have a box of graham crackers and one of powdered milk, four 8-oz packages cream cheese, one 8-oz carton sour cream, and one pound butter. What’s one more item? Shifting the items, cradling them in my arms which are crossed hoping to keep everything secure, I slowly turn my body to the right, reach up with my right hand that is only mobile from the wrist to the fingers, and voila I ease the can off the rack onto the pile and neatly tuck it under my chin. Only thing left is the walk down the longest aisle of the store to checkout where hopefully hubby is patiently waiting. It was definitely the longest aisle and took the longest time to trek than any other during the entire shopping spree.
Whew! Almost there. Hubby is in sight and thank goodness he is the next in line for the conveyor belt. That was in my favor. He hates lines and if he had to let someone ahead because I was taking too long, heaven forbid! As he turned his head and spotted me coming toward him, all I could hear was this roar of laughter as he (not whisperingly) exclaimed, “That’s my wife, octopus arms!”
I know by now you are wondering what all of this has to do with the lady and her T-shirt…
As all of the items plummeted from my arms onto the conveyor belt. I turned around to begin unloading the grocery cart. That is when I spotted the lady and focused on her T-shirt. Think about it. Had I not gone back for the forgotten items and took the amount of time I did as I spotted other items along the way hubby and I would have already been out of Walmart and on our way home never having seen the lady, the T-shirt or read its message.
All of a sudden thoughts of how everyone is so in tune with today’s advancements in technology, gizmos, gagentry and gear, ‘techie’ tips at every turn, flooded my mind centering on how appearances of hearts and minds no longer yearn for the simple things in life. One cannot leave home without a cell phone, Tablet, iPad, iPod or as I just learned about yesterday, the Livescribe Smartpen. They have become as much a part of daily life as the quill and scroll, pen and paper of yesteryear, used to be. Where messages and love notes were once penned, now they are texted. In other words, where messages and love notes were once hand written, now they are generated electronically.
Are you seeing a connection? Recall the title of this post, The Original Text Message?
It was these words, The Original Text Message, that appeared across the front of the T-shirt. Why was I so focused on those words? I don’t even text. In fact, I had text-messenging added to my new cell phone over six months ago in order to receive a code for activation. Received the code along with 500 ‘free’ whatever and I haven’t used it since. I do have a computer (in fact, two, desktop and laptop) but no iPad, iPod or the newly learned Livescribe Smartpen. [The pen does seem worth investigating. I hate losing random thoughts.]
The lady with the T-shirt obviously felt my stare. I abruptly stopped unloading the grocery cart, totally oblivious of anyone else in line and as I walked toward her, she began to walk toward me. . .
OMG! There it was! The message and its true meaning. . .
The Original Text Message
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