My friend Michelle and I have had numerous conversations about the things we see here in the southeastern parts of North Carolina. It started one day when she saw a man burning trash on the side of 24 (one of the major highways in Jacksonville). She thought for a moment "What is he doing?! On the side of the road?!", but then remembered where she was. It is just not out of place here. You get used to things like that. You begin to remain unphased.
I remember our first few days here in Jacksonville, coming from Oceanside, CA. We entered a parking lot to see a very pregnant teen smoking. I was shocked. Welcome to Jacksonville I guess. But again, you get used to things like that.
So it seems fitting to share our Saturday with you, a typical NC day: (I'm giving you fair warning now and apologizing in advance. If you are intrigued, read on....)
We went to the beach with some friends. Returning to the car in the parking lot, we began to overhear a conversation between the people parked next to us. Apparently the girl desperately needed to relieve her bowels. Instead of walking the 1/4 mile to the nearest public restroom, or having her significant other drive the 30 seconds it would take to get to the restroom, she decided a good idea would be to squat down in front of the car in the middle of the parking lot and go. Number 2. Not kidding.
Slightly unphased, we traveled to Food Lion to pick up some things for dinner. Leaving the second parking lot of the day, a woman backed into our friends car. Minor bumper damage, thankfully. So as we stood outside the car waiting for them to work things out, we witnessed two other events simultaneously. A girl, whips around the corner into a parking space practically running over our friends. She gets out of her car and drops her cigarette on the ground by our friends feet. She bends over, derriere high in the air, and tries not to disturb them as she picks it up. She walks away towards the store and proceeds to put the cigarette back in her mouth. I think "Ewww....", but laugh it off. Of course, this is when we notice the 7-ish year old boy drop his trousers and begin peeing in the middle of the parking lot. Not just peeing, but standing tall and proud, facing everyone, arching his back as to get a good, high arc in the stream. Not another person in the whole parking lot even flinched. Most things don't shock me anymore, but this was just too much for one day. I couldn't help but share.
I think I've also learned to spend less time in parking lots here.
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