A Suburban Sign Of Spring

April 10, 2013January 28, 2021 / Ally Bean / 16 Comments

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“So let it be written. So let it be done.”

~ ~~Yul Brynner~~ Rameses, The Ten Commandments

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As I was driving back into our subdivision late Saturday afternoon, I came upon a traffic jam. This is unusual because unlike some subdivisions, we have different ways in and out of this area.

As I sat there, not moving, I wondered what the hold-up was all about.

Then I saw the sign. It was a handwritten sign, propped up against some large blue + white Coleman coolers. The sign explained it all. It said:

LEMONADE

Around this sign + coolers were three adorable, yelling, jumping entrepreneurs who had set up their lemonade stand in such a way as to get business from the traffic coming toward them in three directions.

These were clever girls. With oodles of energy– and the persuasive powers of a pharaoh.

So, like all the other dutiful suburbanites in the cars ahead of me, I bought some lemonade– which turned out to be red fruit punch. And being of a kind nature, I purchased a large cup for 75¢– which was a half-filled 16 oz plastic cup. And then, because service with a smile is so rare these days, I tipped the young entrepreneurs 33%.

Some people may believe that Spring arrives when nature says it is the right time, but for me it’s officially Spring when I spot my first lemonade stand and get suckered into buying a cup.

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Happy Spring, everyone! It is finally here.

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The Point Where Compassion And Mispronunciation Meet

March 27, 2013May 6, 2021 / Ally Bean / 24 Comments

I’ll tell you straight up that I did not correct this young woman’s pronunciation.

The whole conversation happened so quickly, and I was so slow to understand what she was talking about, that the chance never came in the moment for me to tell her: “that’s not how you say it.”

Plus she was so happy about what she was telling me that I didn’t want to rain on her parade, so I said nothing even after I figured it out.

I’ll also tell you that this young woman is a high school graduate from one of the better high schools in the region. And that she speaks using perfect grammar + polysyllabic words. And that she is quite bright about the logic of things.

But here’s the thing, the situation that I found myself in, where I did not know what to do.

She was talking about her vacation plans, in detail. She had found a deal on airfare by watching the prices online. When she saw that she could travel to her western destination with just one stopover in the midwest, she jumped on that ticket because the price was right.

As she had never been to that part of the midwest [and I guess that she missed school the days when the teacher talked about it], she was mispronouncing this city’s name. At first I didn’t understand where she was going, and then when I did it was– well, re-read my second paragraph.

So here is what she said to me. She was going to change flights in: my knee A poe Lis.

Care to guess where she was going? And any suggestions about how to handle a similar situation should it arise in my lifetime again?

I await your comments below.

Bad Coffee On A Monday Morning

March 18, 2013October 9, 2021 / Ally Bean / 41 Comments

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Let’s just say, for purposes of discussion, that this morning I made a pot of coffee that was so weak, so bad, so disappointing that I could only drink about half a mug of it.

And then let’s say that upon discovering how bad the coffee tasted, I threw out the rest of the pot. Which was wasteful. Something we do not like here at Chez Bean.

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Further, let’s say that thinking back I realized that ye olde coffee maker has made some rather dodgy, hissy, dragon-y sounds every morning for the last few months as it works at heating the water.

And even then, the water has not been as hot as it should be to brew a pot of coffee. Or at least a pot of coffee that I would consider worth drinking. Which, I think we can agree, is the prime directive of any coffee maker that sits on my kitchen counter.

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All of which brings me to the crux of our discussion. To the real reason that I’m taking the time to write this post even though my brain is foggy from lack of caffeine and my morning appears to be shot to heck. Here is what I want to ask you, my gentle readers:

If you had to buy a new electric coffee maker, which one would you get? And why?

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