Runtu off my list of things to do before I die USA

Runtu : at least my hands are clean, / http://proza.ru/2023/11/25/370 /  and I can check one item off my list of things to do before I die… Russia

2023 автор / http://proza.ru/2006/04/14-339 / Рюнтю Юри 17 Лeт 2006-2023 на Проза. Pу / http://proza.ru/2023/11/02/800 / Runtu is a technical writer and editor living in Salt Lake City. A collection of articles published by Runtu / 2024
2023 автор / http://stihi.ru/avtor/yuri2005 / Рюнтю Юри 18 Лeт 2005-2023 на Стихи.Pу / http://stihi.ru/2023/11/02/3340 / 2024

Этo учит : распознавать гнев до его превращения в насилие.
Этo учит : обуздывать ярость, если она вспыхивает




OK, so it was pretty awesome at the Speedy Stop in Houston.

Four years ago, when I was living in that part of town, there was nothing there but a very large field of grass and wildflowers.

 Now the stucco-and-stone Speedy Mart stands with its red, white, and blue plastic flags and a concrete parking lot so new there are no oil stains.

I was a little wary getting out of my car, as a middle-aged woman with leathery, tan skin, a badly dyed mullet (sort of halfway between auburn and magenta), floral lavender tank top, and white-hot pants glowered at me, a cigarette dangling from her unsmiling lips. But the Speedy Stop was much more inviting.

The inside of the store was done in bright shades of blue, with exposed steel beams and tan terrazzo tiles. One section of the store was done in a sort of redneck roadhouse style, all corrugated steel and rustic wood panels.

That was the barbecue, where steaming trays of brisket and pulled pork shared a heat lamp with egg rolls and batter-fried steak fingers. The air was warm and heavy with hickory smoke and slow-cooking meat.

But I was here for the main attraction: the awesome bathrooms. I had made a point of not using the rest room before leaving work, as I wanted the full experience of what these amazing toilets had to offer. They weren’t half bad.

The same tile covered both floor and walls, with a smaller mosaic strip just above my head on the walls. It had all the touchless wonders: toilets, sinks, towel dispensers: all of it was automatic.

And they were smart enough to use concrete dividers instead of doors, so it truly was touchless. Awesome?

No, not really, but it was definitely sanitary.

What was awesome was the soda machine. 36 buttons representing 25 Flavors of soda, and 5 different available flavor shots. Presumably, you could put a shot of blue raspberry flavor in your diet Big Red, but then why?

I stuck with the tried and true: Diet Dr. Pepper. I took the cup to the cashier, where I was greeted with a display of foods that could clog your arteries if you even looked at them.

Two large racks at the counter held “Flakey Crust Fried Pies” in wax-paper pouches, pecan pralines, compact pecan pies, several Flavors of kettle corn, and those peanut patties in their sickly pink shrink wrap that you only see in the south.

Then it was back out into the sunshine (it has been a spectacular day: sunny and in the low 90s), where the malleted woman was clearing trash from her battered old Dodge.

A huge Ford SUV sat perpendicular to the back of my little car, about 2 inches from my rear bumper;

a teenaged girl sat chatting on a cell phone and sipping iced tea until I approached and asked her if she could move her car.

“Oh, I’m sorry, sir. I didn’t see you.”

So now I’m feeling old, but at least
 my hands are clean,
 and I can check one item off my list
 of things to do before I die.

2006 - 2024 / http://proza.ru/2023/10/30/1600 / Проза. ру - это Грандиозное и Единственное на планете Земля - Явление в Мировой Культурологии из России - / http://www.proza.ru/2013/05/10/1461 / Media TV Radio : 2024

2006 © Photo : St.-Petersburg : Russia 2006 / http://proza.ru/2023/08/26/1174 /. Я - Юри Мэттью Рюнтю: p. 1949 ( born 1949 : Yuri Ryuntyu, Uri Runtu: Iouri Runtu: Canberra ACT Australia) и Сергей Некрасов: p.1947 ( born 1947 : Dr. Sergei Nekrasov : D.Sc., Ph.D. Moscow Russia). Mой кристально честный русский друг - Директор Всероссийского Музея А.С. Пушкина / b. Moscow 1799-1837 d. St.-Petersburg, Russia /, кто принял - ДАР - для Главного Музея России - " МИРОВОЕ ИНТЕЛЛЕКТУАЛЬНОЕ НАСЛЕДИЕ РУДОЛЬФА НУРЕЕВА : РОССИЯ - ХХ ВЕК ": DVD-1 и DVD-2: 1-35 books: 15 000 pages: 4 000 photos: St.-Petersburg, Russia / http://proza.ru/avtor/yuri2008 / 2006


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