Having Legs and Knowing How to Use Them
I’m all excited because I rode my bike to Whole Paycheck for lunch today. It’s only maybe two miles each way, but it’s a significant departure from my normal route and routine, or at least the non-trail part of it is. I arrived with a sense of accomplishment, locked up my bike next to a pedicab, and spent the next hour on the sunny patio, talking about sex and love and boy troubles over a bowl of organic soup with my gorgeous gay lunch date.
If that isn’t what being an Austinite is all about, I’d like to know what is!
Some of you not in Austin may not know that this is the very first location of Whole Foods, right here:
And here it is now, just a few blocks and a kazillion light-years away.
The main problem with biking places is that I have to change clothes to do it. At work, this means using the women’s locker room, which is equipped with government-issued, cellulite-enhancing lighting and special widening mirrors that make you look like you’re hiding the cab of a semi under your skirt. Baby got MACK!!!
Cheryl’s BITCH is a biker and has been trying to persuade me to join him on the Hill Country Ride for AIDS, but I don’t think I will, for two important reasons:
1. The word “Hill” is prominently featured in the name.
2. It’s 50 miles. Look what a big deal I’m making about riding four!
Still, it’s a liberating feeling, being able to go places – real places – pretty quickly, under your own power, in the sunshine and fresh air. Even in the cold and rain, I still enjoy it, though I cannot stress enough the importance of wearing waterproof mascara. So I really want to start using my bike for going more places more often.
That way, when Robbie finally convinces me to come work with him in Georgetown, my legs will be ready.
----------
Aerial images are from http://maps.live.com. Aren’t they cool?
Labels: biking, boy troubles, legs, Whole Foods
posted by Beth @ 6:15 PM
3 comments
3 Comments:
"Whole Paycheck" is such a derogatory and dismissive term. Americans on average spend less than 10% of their income on food, far, far less than people in the rest of the world. Mostly that's because we're accustomed to ultra-cheap McBurgers and the trash Wal-Mart serves up as food and produce. Clearly Whole Foods is more decadent, and part of what you're paying for is the good service, the selection, the cleanliness, the green building and all the recycling they do. But you're also paying for a premium product that DOESN'T have added hormones, pesticides, antibiotics, cruelty and other things that SHOULD be the "norm" but unfortunately isn't. It's sad that we have to pay a premium to get clean food, but so it is. Whole Foods isn't perfect of course. They still serve up a whole lot of "industrial organic," which needs a lot of improvement but is already a great improvement over typical factory farmed meats and produce. Plus Whole Foods supports a lot of local farmers, which is really the best you can do aside from growing food yourself. Buying from local farmers at the local farmer's market or even direct from the farm is even more expensive than Whole Foods. But you're supporting the local economy and giving your money to the little guy who generally puts a lot more TLC into the land and the food than even industrial organic can.
The agricultural system in America is shameful and most people know little about it. They don't care. They just want cheap food so they can have more money to fuel their consumptive lifestyles.
By the way, I'm not picking on you. I just hate that term. Usually I hear it from people who already spend more on eating out or partying than they'd spend on groceries at Whole Foods and I think that's absurd. Food is life. Not only does agriculture nourish our bodies, but it affects the entire planet. Our propensity to be ruled by money is what has delivered so many problems into our society today.
Yo...when is our next date to Whole Paycheck?
http://youtube.com/watch?v=7C0aQrRIq1A
Post a Comment
<< Home