So Im getting out of the car at Highland Market on Rt. 44 in Coventry. Next to me, in a gigantic white land yacht, an elderly woman gets out and accosts me: Lady: Can you tell me how to get to the casinos? Me: Uh....Foxwoods, or Mohegan? Youre quite a ways from there...probably an hour or more. We discuss it for half a minute. Someone called me to come pick her up. Then: She thinks Im staying. Im NOT. (little derisive snort) Her eyes are watery behind the surface, and dont seem to focus fully. I just got off the highway to get a coffee, and then I lost my way. Me: What highway? She doesnt seem to remember. Me: Where did you come from today? Lady: Hartford. I resist the urge to say, who would call *you* to come get them from *Hartford*? I ponder the options. Then I say: Look, let me get a piece of paper. I rummage through my purse for paper and pen. I have an app - uh, the capability on my phone of getting maps and planning routes. Ill show you where to go. I pull up GoogleMaps and program it. It obliges and shows me the way from here, deep in cow country, to the casinos. I show her but I can tell its not registering. I write it all down carefully, with lefts and rights and route numbers. I explain it in the simplest terms I can, and when we get to Rt. 2, she brightens up and says, Thats it! Thats the highway I want! I wonder how she got from Rt. 2 to Rt. 44. You cant get there from here, not directly. I set her back in her car and wish her well. She starts to drive away, then rolls down the window: LEFT out of here? Me: Yes, left. Good luck. Lady: How long do you think itll take me? Me: Well....I live about 12 minutes from here and Im about an hour from there. Lady (shaking her head): 12 minutes. Thats too close. Its dangerous, being so close to the casino. I wish her luck again. I dont tell her that the casino doesnt tempt me. I wonder for the rest of the night and into this morning if she ever made it there.
Posted on: Fri, 01 Aug 2014 21:22:31 +0000
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