An Adventure

I had a random craving today.
For a shake from Arctic Circle.

Which is kinda crazy because I wanted to get the Chocolate Chip one.
And like.
I haven't had that particular flavor in years.

It's rare that I get a shake really. 
As I tend to favor the toppers (ice cream cones with a flavored hard shell over it) over shakes. 

And if I do get a shake it's like...mint chocolate chip.

Yet here I was, in the middle of the work, seriously craving the chocolate chip shake I remembered having in my childhood.

I was in a predicament though.
Because like.
We're in the middle of this pandemic.

And I'm trying to avoid venturing out to public places. 
But at the same time...like I want to support food places.
Yet at the same time...I don't want to go to public places....

Yah. It's a tug of war.

And I had the internal struggle like the entire last hour of my shift and as I was getting into my car and as I was driving towards Arctic Circle.

I was like "Okay, if there's not a long line, then I'll grab a a shake....and maybe some chicken rings...no! Just a shake. But chicken rings...." 

But as I was driving by...I happened to notice that the Barnes and Noble by my work....was still open. 
()_() 
At least I thought it was still open as there were cars in front of it.

But I wasn't sure. Because like...I had seen that B&N had closed like 400 of their stores.
And I'd just assumed the one by my work was one of those stores.

But if they were still open....I figured I should support my favorite book store.
And go get a book.

But at the same time...I couldn't really go to Arctic Circle and get a shake....and then go to Barnes and Noble. Like...my shake would melt and that wouldn't be fun because who knew how long I would be in the book store?

However.
When I reached Arctic Circle.
The line through the drive thru was....well. Long. 
It intimidated me because I didn't want to wait in a long line. 

So I drove right on by....and circled back to the Barnes and Noble.

The doors were wide open as if to say "COME INSIDE WE'RE OPEN!" 

Again. I wanted to support my bookstore.
And I figured I could find a book quickly and get out.

As again.
Public Place.
I didn't want to like...stay in a public place....you know just in case.

I mean I'm getting paranoid as it is at work.
I'd rather not have that paranoia stick around longer than necessary.

And like venturing into the book store.
It was like a good weird tenseness.
Because good as I love books and walking into a book store is always amazing.
But weird tense because the atmosphere was off.
Things were quieter.
Tenser.
And I was very leery and wary of how close I was to the workers and the handful of other people in the store as I didn't want to get too close to them.
You know. Six feet rule.

And I was getting tenser.
Because like...to figure out a book to buy to support the store...I kinda needed to pick them up and read the inside cover so I knew what the book was about.

It's amazing how you notice how many things you touch when you're being paranoid.

Like each book could have been handled by multiple people and I wouldn't know how many or who or if they were sick or not.

Talk about a paranoia spike. 

And the longer I went without picking out a book...the more stressed I got.
Because I could potentially be risking my health being in this public place.
And I wasn't finding a book.
Which mean I wasn't supporting the store!

And AHHHHHH

*exhales*
Note to self.
Stop being so paranoid.

In any case.

After a good ten or fifteen minutes of browsing.
I decided to go back to one of the first books I had looked at.
As it still came to mind when I was like "which book should I get."
And decided if I still remembered it then I would get it as it had a good enough plot premise that it could be good.

And then another book caught my eye.
One that was like....a Mulan type story except involving dragons.
So of course I was like ()_() 
And got that one too.

^^;;
I ended up getting two books. So woot supporting my store! :D lol

Though I do admit the tense part of the store was waiting in line -because of course a line formed up just as I was getting ready to go up- but we kept our distance from each other so it wasn't that big of a deal. 

But yah.
I got the books.
Woot!

And then on a whim I went back to Arctic Circle...as I was still craving my shake.
And the line was much shorter now.
So I jumped in line. Got my shake and chicken rings.

And headed home.

And ahhhh.
That shake is like...heaven sent.
A taste of childhood.
A piece of comfort.

It just may be my new addiction where I'll end up dropping by twice a week for that goodness. (maybe depending on how things play out)

But overall I'm quite happy with how the day out went. ^^;;
Yay for shake and books! Woot!

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi