I don't need a bunch of extra chicken hanging around
There's this one scene in the movie "Must Love Dogs" where Diane Lane's character goes grocery shopping. She pushes around her cart self-consciously and buys single packs of everything because she lives all alone. Eventually, she gets to the deli counter and asks for a single chicken breast.
The guy keeps trying to sell her more telling her, "It's a great deal!"
She ends up exploding and says my favorite line from the movie which is, "Look mister! I'm single and I live alone. I eat most of my meals hanging over the kitchen sink and I DON'T NEED A BUNCH OF EXTRA CHICKEN HANGING AROUND!"
I have to say that I connected way more to that scene than I should have. Being a girl and living alone is not a hard thing to do, but it can feel, well, lonely at times. You come home to an empty apartment. You cook by yourself, eat by yourself (mostly hanging over the kitchen sink, it's true) and sit all alone on your couch watching sappy romantic comedies, identifying all too much with the pathetic protagonists.
The only difference being, of course, that John Cusack would never answer my personal ad.
When grocery shopping today, I noticed myself pushing around my cart self-consciously. I bought single packs of everything because I live alone. I bought a single chicken breast. And I almost exploded at the cashier for her arched eyebrows at the 10 microwaved dinners I was buying. She wisely said nothing and I packed away my microwaved dinners and single chicken breast with as much dignity as I could.
Getting back to my apartment, I was peeved to discover that not only had someone parked in my spot, but that someone else had parked in the visitor's spot beside it, leaving me no alternative but to illegally park in the alley.
My parking spot was occupied by a mini-van from which a guy was unloading a bunch of furniture. I struggled with my groceries and finally got to the door.
"You live here?" asked the guy. He had a thick oriental accent.
"Yes." I was curious as to why he was asking.
"You park in da back allrey? Is dat allorwed?"
"Uh no. No but you're kinda parked in my spot." I pointed at his van.
"Dat is your spot?"
"Yes. You are parked in it."
He didn't really seem to udnerstand so I basically explained to him three times that he was in my spot before he finally caught on. He got very defensive.
"Dis is not your spot! Landlord said no assigned parking. I park here first," he snapped at me.
"Excuse me?" I was shocked at his tone. "There is assigned parking. That's my assigned spot."
"No. No Landlord said it OK for me park here," he sneered at me and tried to stare me down.
"Look, are you sure that's what the landlord said? That's my spot you're in and I'm illegally parked right now."
"Yeah, he said no preferred parking. I PARK HERE FIRST. YOU PARK SOMEWHERE ELSE!"
I was still holding all my groceries at this point and I was getting super ticked. The guy looked none too pleased either. I don't think he was used to getting lip from a female. Let alone a Canadian-born female.
"Look, as soon as I set my groceries down, we can talk more about this."
Another guy emerged from the door and the two of them conversed in mandarin and glared at me. I trudged up the door, sarcastically thanked them for NOT holding the door open for me and deposited my groceries on the floor of my little apartment.
I ran out again to grab the rest of the bags from my trunk and bumped right into Charles, my poor landlord. I started whining to him and begged him to go to the parking lot with me. "But Charles! This guy's in my spot right now and he says that it's his!"
"I, uh, have to go talk to another tenant right now though," he tried to head off briskly in the opposite direction.
I basically herded the poor man into a corner and shoved him towards the direction of the parking lot. He sighed and finally consented to walk into the lot with me.
The second guy who had come out was busy closing the doors on the van and turning off the ignition. Charles motioned at him and told him to move elsewhere as he was in my spot. The guy pretended not to know English and played dumb. I glared at him.
The original guy I was arguing with finally came out. Charles repeated the instructions to him and told him that they were in my spot. With a lot of contempt and swearing in mandarin, the guy got back into the van and moved out.
It was a small victory but a victory none the less. Don't mess with a neurotic woman on the edge.
I happily pulled into my spot and parked. I got out of the car and turned around to see the two guys (and a girl who had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere) glaring at me. They walked into their apartment and I could see them from their window. I got out, picked up the rest of my groceries and walked to the door.
So maybe we'd gotten off on the wrong foot. I smiled a friendly smile at them. They glared back. I unlocked the door and walked inside. All the time, I kid you not, they glared at me out of their window.
I got up to my little crumby apartment and sighed as I slammed the door shut behind me.
I sorted out the groceries, crammed all my microwave dinners into the freezer and cooked up the single chicken breast. I ate it over the sink and thought about the joys of neighborly love.
Later in the evening, i went out to the gym and to grab a booster juice. Returning to my building, I parked my car in its spot and got out. At that exact moment, the two oriental guys and the girl were just coming out of their apartment and were heading towards the same entrance as me.
I tried to smile at them. They looked at me from behind the glass, mouthed something to each other and turned around and went back into their apartment. I sighed. I got into the stairwell and as soon as they heard me walking past their floor, they hurried out of thier door again and out the door.
I shrugged and took a swig of my booster juice. I had better things to worry about.
Which brings me to now. There are no new phone messages for me and I made sure I pinned the only personal piece of mail I received today (Feroza and Rohan's wedding invitation) onto my special bulletin board. It helps to remind me that there is a world out there that I am connected to.
I have a few dirty plates in the sink and my coffee mug from this morning is still sitting on the counter. But it doesn't matter as there's no one to chastise me for it.
I live alone.
I sleep alone.
I eat all my meals alone, mostly over the kitchen sink.
And I definitely don't need a lot of extra chicken hanging around.
The guy keeps trying to sell her more telling her, "It's a great deal!"
She ends up exploding and says my favorite line from the movie which is, "Look mister! I'm single and I live alone. I eat most of my meals hanging over the kitchen sink and I DON'T NEED A BUNCH OF EXTRA CHICKEN HANGING AROUND!"
I have to say that I connected way more to that scene than I should have. Being a girl and living alone is not a hard thing to do, but it can feel, well, lonely at times. You come home to an empty apartment. You cook by yourself, eat by yourself (mostly hanging over the kitchen sink, it's true) and sit all alone on your couch watching sappy romantic comedies, identifying all too much with the pathetic protagonists.
The only difference being, of course, that John Cusack would never answer my personal ad.
When grocery shopping today, I noticed myself pushing around my cart self-consciously. I bought single packs of everything because I live alone. I bought a single chicken breast. And I almost exploded at the cashier for her arched eyebrows at the 10 microwaved dinners I was buying. She wisely said nothing and I packed away my microwaved dinners and single chicken breast with as much dignity as I could.
Getting back to my apartment, I was peeved to discover that not only had someone parked in my spot, but that someone else had parked in the visitor's spot beside it, leaving me no alternative but to illegally park in the alley.
My parking spot was occupied by a mini-van from which a guy was unloading a bunch of furniture. I struggled with my groceries and finally got to the door.
"You live here?" asked the guy. He had a thick oriental accent.
"Yes." I was curious as to why he was asking.
"You park in da back allrey? Is dat allorwed?"
"Uh no. No but you're kinda parked in my spot." I pointed at his van.
"Dat is your spot?"
"Yes. You are parked in it."
He didn't really seem to udnerstand so I basically explained to him three times that he was in my spot before he finally caught on. He got very defensive.
"Dis is not your spot! Landlord said no assigned parking. I park here first," he snapped at me.
"Excuse me?" I was shocked at his tone. "There is assigned parking. That's my assigned spot."
"No. No Landlord said it OK for me park here," he sneered at me and tried to stare me down.
"Look, are you sure that's what the landlord said? That's my spot you're in and I'm illegally parked right now."
"Yeah, he said no preferred parking. I PARK HERE FIRST. YOU PARK SOMEWHERE ELSE!"
I was still holding all my groceries at this point and I was getting super ticked. The guy looked none too pleased either. I don't think he was used to getting lip from a female. Let alone a Canadian-born female.
"Look, as soon as I set my groceries down, we can talk more about this."
Another guy emerged from the door and the two of them conversed in mandarin and glared at me. I trudged up the door, sarcastically thanked them for NOT holding the door open for me and deposited my groceries on the floor of my little apartment.
I ran out again to grab the rest of the bags from my trunk and bumped right into Charles, my poor landlord. I started whining to him and begged him to go to the parking lot with me. "But Charles! This guy's in my spot right now and he says that it's his!"
"I, uh, have to go talk to another tenant right now though," he tried to head off briskly in the opposite direction.
I basically herded the poor man into a corner and shoved him towards the direction of the parking lot. He sighed and finally consented to walk into the lot with me.
The second guy who had come out was busy closing the doors on the van and turning off the ignition. Charles motioned at him and told him to move elsewhere as he was in my spot. The guy pretended not to know English and played dumb. I glared at him.
The original guy I was arguing with finally came out. Charles repeated the instructions to him and told him that they were in my spot. With a lot of contempt and swearing in mandarin, the guy got back into the van and moved out.
It was a small victory but a victory none the less. Don't mess with a neurotic woman on the edge.
I happily pulled into my spot and parked. I got out of the car and turned around to see the two guys (and a girl who had mysteriously appeared out of nowhere) glaring at me. They walked into their apartment and I could see them from their window. I got out, picked up the rest of my groceries and walked to the door.
So maybe we'd gotten off on the wrong foot. I smiled a friendly smile at them. They glared back. I unlocked the door and walked inside. All the time, I kid you not, they glared at me out of their window.
I got up to my little crumby apartment and sighed as I slammed the door shut behind me.
I sorted out the groceries, crammed all my microwave dinners into the freezer and cooked up the single chicken breast. I ate it over the sink and thought about the joys of neighborly love.
Later in the evening, i went out to the gym and to grab a booster juice. Returning to my building, I parked my car in its spot and got out. At that exact moment, the two oriental guys and the girl were just coming out of their apartment and were heading towards the same entrance as me.
I tried to smile at them. They looked at me from behind the glass, mouthed something to each other and turned around and went back into their apartment. I sighed. I got into the stairwell and as soon as they heard me walking past their floor, they hurried out of thier door again and out the door.
I shrugged and took a swig of my booster juice. I had better things to worry about.
Which brings me to now. There are no new phone messages for me and I made sure I pinned the only personal piece of mail I received today (Feroza and Rohan's wedding invitation) onto my special bulletin board. It helps to remind me that there is a world out there that I am connected to.
I have a few dirty plates in the sink and my coffee mug from this morning is still sitting on the counter. But it doesn't matter as there's no one to chastise me for it.
I live alone.
I sleep alone.
I eat all my meals alone, mostly over the kitchen sink.
And I definitely don't need a lot of extra chicken hanging around.
posted by Viv at 7:41 p.m.
3 Comments:
But there are positives to living alone. You can stay up as late as you like with the lights on studying and listening to music. You don't have to consider anyone's feelings in the run of a day. You can eat what you want and don't ever have to compromise on that. You can watch whatever you like, you can entertain yourself any way you like. So, there are pros.
What mean neighbours! They park in your parking spot, they are rude to you after you asked them to move, and then they didn't even open the door for you? And THEN they GLARE at you? Like, who are they? A person can't just take someone else's parking spot because it's "convenient" for them to move in. That's silly. It just shows bad character on their part. Just ignore them for now, because they're not worth your time.
As for living alone, embrace it. It's your time to grow as a person, explore your psyche and really get to know yourself.
And if you get really really bored, try studying in a Starbucks or another coffee house close by your home. It's good to have a change of scenery once in a while.
Or buy a fighting fish! Or a nice bunch of tetras. Those are pretty fishies.
Hope your arms are feeling better after you got all those vaccines! Mmm...vaccines.
Did you get the daily malaria pills, or the weekly ones? The daily ones protect your tummy from food poisoning, too. I can't remember the name of it, though. I'll ask my mother.
Hey Vivian,
As of Monday, I was on my own too although my situation is only temporary. But even with my family at home there is that feeling of loneliness. Being on my own these past few days has really given me a glimpse of what life would be like by myself... kinda sad. I realized that today as I drove out of the KFC parking lot with TWO Twoonie Tuesday specials. I bought two... just so the pimply 16 year old server didn't think I was by myself. It's sad to to think that way but it's true.
Anyways, just wanted to say I know how it feels and hope things look up or like your first comment, look on the bright side of living alone! I did my laundry at 11pm yesturday... I never get to do that!
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