Quaint

I live in a quaint town. Helena has about 60,000 people if you include the surrounding area. If you include cattle, our population triples. Due to the smallness, there are a lot of quaint customs. The stoplights blink after 8pm; yellow one direction and red the other. Parking costs about $.50 an hour, unless the attendant has to leave their post for the potty or lunch, and then it is free. Dogs are accepted in most stores and a few stores have their own dogs. Murdocks Ranch Store carries chicks in the spring with the best way to cook them once full grown on their cages.

Tonight I found a habit that isn't quaint. I was at my weekly knitting group when a group of us decided to get a snack before going home. I left the bar at 9pm and walked to the parking garage. I had parked on the second floor and so I tried to open the door to the stairs and it was LOCKED. I tried the door to the elevator and it was locked. The sign on the door which I am assuming tells me where open doors leading upstairs are is broken in half and so you can't read it. I had no idea where another set of stairs were so I ended up walking around the parking garage until I came to my car.

I could have been mugged. Granted someone would have to want to mug a woman who looks the part of a stay at home mom and who is carrying a bag that says Knit and Nosh on it in florescent pink, but there is the possibility. Why lock the doors? I mean who really cares? Are they afraid of vagrants hanging out in the stairwell? Helena has the reputation of being one of the better towns to hang in if you are homeless because the shelters are really nice. No reason to be on the stairs.

It wouldn't be so bad if Helena didn't also have the reputation of being undefinably cold along with quaint and I wasn't wearing socks.

I guess I'll knit those next week.