it is small grocery stores, and two lane interstates, that are ruined by wal-mart. it is my grandma's job--which is a funny thing, because her boss is in complete denial--that is taken away, slowly, with the credit machines going first, then the heat, then the inventory. next the lights will go off, and they will stop pretending. so sometimes i wish for a world without wal-marts, and that is just a very simple truth of today. because, you know what? i like the small grocery stores.

spending time with my grandma is fun, because she has been in this city for so long. everyone is a cousin, or a friend, and she also at one time lived in like, every single house in the state. apparently she also does this thing where, every thursday and friday, she goes to the casino where they give out five dollars worth of free tokens to every senior. she picks up her chips faithfully each week, then leaves and stores them who knows where. after the winter she takes them out and goes on a gambling streak, spending money she never worked for and making money by pulling levers. and all of this is funny to me because why would such a small town have a casino?