Earlier this month I received an offer of employment from Alberta Health Services, to be a co-op student in their Human Resources department. The only catch was that the job was in Red Deer. Never having lived by myself before, and highly committed to my girlfriend living in Edmonton, you can see how it was more than a little daunting to take this position. But refusing to back down from a challenge, I sent the email accepting the offer and began looking for housing.
Fast forward a week and a half, I found myself off my first day of work with only one thing on my mind: What am I actually doing for dinner? See, I've cook meals before, and I'm not stranger to the kitchen, but this would be the first time I would be cooking because I HAD to cook, not because I simply felt like it.
I panicked and quickly ran through a couple of options through my phone. Google search confirmed the location of a Walmart in my vicinity, and I definitely heard a girl at work say something about a "co-op" to buy groceries at.
Walmart turned out to be a disappointment. Against my expectations of a polished big box wonderland, the Walmart in Red Deer felt... a tad decrepit. Discouraged, I followed my iPhone's direction to this fabled "co-op." Luckily for my first day, I didn't have to push my boundaries too much, as on my way I recognized the comforting green light of the Sobeys sign. The Sobeys proved to be much more familiar than I expected, nestled inside a strip mall and I managed to buy the week's groceries. A pack of drumsticks for grilling/baking/pan-frying, and some salad. Along with a shit-ton of milk. Today? I passed by a Superstore on my way home, and discovered yet another place to shop for groceries, so we'll see where that leads.
*At this point, the writer has realized his drumsticks are really raw in the center. Understanding his failure, he strips the meat off the drumsticks and throws it back into the pan in bits. He looks forward to a grilled chicken sandwich instead*
So what are the major points of this story? Well:
- I was paralyzed by the absolute lack of direction, and couldn't even make a decision on dinner without really thinking hard about it.
- I still don't know what a "co-op" is.
- Why does Red Deer have to be so intentionally... beige?
- Why on earth would a city's downtown have angle parking on the streets? Do you realize it's impossible to back out of angle parking on a road with traffic?
I hope you guys enjoyed my little story, and had a bit of a laugh at my silliness. I know I did after I had some real food to eat.
