Right at the Door

Yesterday I was talking with a friend who lives in the same rural community where I lived for more than twenty years, and we got into the convenience factor of living in certain places. I told him how, after living here for over fifteen years, I still get so excited when the mail comes to my house. In that community there is a "mail shack" with rows of boxes where you need a key to get your mail. He lives about a quarter mile from the boxes; I lived about two miles away. It's a big pain to have to drive two miles every day to get your mail! So I guess it's no surprise really that I still get excited about the mail being delivered almost to my front door. (As an aside, when I was a child I lived in a house where the mail literally came right through the door. Right now, especially, I would be super-thrilled for that service; I haven't been able to walk to my mailbox because my driveway is on a hill, a hill that seems much steeper from the knee-scooter and the boot.)

My friend said, "I bet you can even get pizza delivered to your house." I told him that was true, and also Chinese. I had forgotten about a relatively new local service (which I won't name because they have been inconsistent and are expensive) that will pick up food from a variety of restaurants and bring it right to your house. Because it is expensive, I had used it only once (although a friend ordered for us another time when she was here). But tonight I didn't feel like cooking and I wanted something good to eat. If I'm honest, I have to say that mostly I wanted dessert and it's a real hassle to drive myself anywhere. I chose Cheesecake Factory. Hey, if you're going to do dessert, why not do it up right? Just to balance things out a bit (and to reach the minimum order), I also got Asian lettuce wraps. The wraps were extremely messy -- a lot of the dressing ended up on my shirt -- so I tore up the big pieces and made it into a salad. Eating all those vegetables made me feel virtuous, particularly after spending more money than I should have on the meal and ordering Khalua cheesecake (which I'm saving for later).

My friend is right: it's cool to be able to have a variety of things come straight to your door, but as we discussed, there is a trade-off. He has lots of land and privacy. I don't. Sometimes what I have seems worth the trade; other times it doesn't. I'm sure everyone feels some degree of that.