I’m not a person who does well with routines. My parents and brother have routines. On Thursdays they go to a certain restaurant. On Fridays they go to another restaurant in my hometown. This restaurant is way too claustrophobic for me. I’m always vaguely freaked out whenever I go in there.

First of all it is owned by a person I went to high school with. I don’t really like meeting up with people I went to high school with but haven’t been in contact with for years. It always feels like you should say something profound but we never talked in high school so why should we talk now?

Second, every there is on a strict routine. I’m usually the only one at the table who needs to have an order taken. Everyone else just sits down and gets food delivered. Also, everyone is there at a predetermined day and time. This is a restaurant where you don’t need reservations to come but it is appreciated if you let them know if you are not going to come one week. That way they won’t hold the table for you and they can let everyone know where you are. That’s small town life for you and most people seem to like it but it makes me jumpy. I’ve always preferred to be anonymous. I don’t like people feel like they know me because they’ve seen me around for years. I also don’t want to be assumed to be the same person I was in high school.

People ask me all the time if I’m ever planning on moving back to my hometown. They can’t understand why I wouldn’t want to live where I grew up. It’s a fine place except for the weather but I couldn’t do it.