Have you ever had a day that was planned, but life found opportunities to be in the moment? Today was one of those days for me. My day was planned… Get the kids out for the bus without them killing each other, get dress, write today’s post, and go see the movie Harriet.
First thing that set me off course, was my husband requiring me to drop off his gym bag, but the plus side was us meeting at a local caribian spot and though we couldn’t eat together he gave me money for lunch. Even though it was 12, I hadn’t eaten yet and with my weak digestive system, couldn’t phantom having spicy carribian for my first meal. Now I had an option, go back home for an hour and head out to the theater or go there early and do some writing with my extra down time until the movie starts. I opted to head to the theater.
It would be remiss for me not to mention, we just recently relocated to the Atlanta area and I have not been to the theater and was depended on my GPS to get me to the correct location. This did not happen. My GPS took me to an industrial office area and it was clear that I was not near a theater. So after trying to see if I could figure things out on my own and not wanting to stop for directions (do people still do that?), I reset my location and tried again. This time it took me strait to the mall where the theater was housed.
Again this was a good thing, because had I went home, I would have missed at least half the coming attractions or even part of the movie. Once in the mall, I realized the theater wasn’t open yet and I still had about an hour and a half until my movie was scheduled to start. Standing there, I thought about finding somewhere I could get a light meal and sit and write. An older gentleman sitting on a bench in front of me asked the time. I think I was a little thrown off, because with cell phones most people have the time in their back pocket. I gave him the time and decided to sit down and take my time figuring out my next step. The older gentleman (a senior probably in his early 70’s) struck up a conversation with me.
We talked about our life paths that lead us to moving to the Atlanta area, the housing market, immigration, finding a church home in the area, and our children. His wife is a retired nurse and he worked in security. They have been in the area since the early 90’s and purchased their home a few years later. Cauwisdently, we were both going to see Harriet and the conversation moved towards the what we knew of her story and how we were both looking forward to seeing the movie. Finally the theater opened up and he purchased his ticket and I showed my prepurchased pass, we both went to the concession stand, where I used some reward points to get a pretzel and a drink.
We ended up in the same row of a pretty empty theater and opted to be rebellious and choose seats next to each other. I’ve never recall going to the movies with my grandfather, but I imagine this is what it would have been like. We agreed or disagreed on whether or not a previewed movie was worth seeing in the theaters or to wait until it was on cable. But once the movie started, we settled down in our respective seats and experienced the movie, Harriet.
Deliberately dope 