Michael & Liz are Bloggable

I should probably blog about something relevant to our lives or something that may be worth while to yours, but I'm in the mood to blog about something completely irrelevant.

Today I started thinking about 2 places that make me really uncomfortable. These are common places that usually wouldn't do that for someone my age.

First of all, the bank is a very awkward and uncomfortable place for me to be. At the beginning of every month, we "refresh" our cash budget by going to the bank and withdrawing a certain amount so that we have money for the month for food, personal money, dog expenses, and toiletries. It's a great way to keep spending in line for the month.

That may sound like a natural situation to go to the bank, get money, and leave. My problem with the bank though is that it's anything but private anymore. You stand in line with a bunch of people, most of which I wouldn't trust with a butter knife. For some reason, all other bank patrons feel to me very untrustworthy and sketchy. Then you get to the counter in their non-booth like, one long counter experience where everything you say echos in their massive ceiling buildings.

When we refresh our cash budget, we get out a pretty large amount, enough to last one month. So I quietly whisper how much I'd like, but then the woman responds with a loud "What kind of bills would you like? $100's? $50's? what?". And I quietly whisper how much I want of each bill. At this point, I feel like the very close line of untrustworthy people is watching as the teller slowly pulls out money and thumbs through it on her desk. Then she hands me a massive envelope (because I like getting lots of $5's and $10's) and I feel like I was just granted permission to leave with what I just robbed from the counter. I quickly stuff the thick envelope in my pocket and pray I make it to my car safely without any interaction from anyone. "I HAVE A WAD OF MONEY IN MY POCKET PEOPLE, GET OUT OF MY WAY!! (I say inside my head)".

Maybe I'm alone with feeling this way, but banks these days have become a very awkward and non-discrete place and I don't enjoy going.

The other place that makes me feel awkward is the ABC store. I'm 9 years past the drinking age and I still feel like I'm breaking the law. There's always someone at the register you'd never interact with outside the confines of the building. There are signs all over making it clear that "Alcohol is a controlled substance!" and "It's a state law to do anything ever". On top of that it takes me roughly 49 minutes to find a label on any bottle that I recognize. There are even sections of the store that are foreign to me (cognac) so I move along for fear I may have to pronounce it later. I feel like the whole store is designed to make you feel uncomfortable, rushed, and as dumb as a box of rocks.

Then, half the time, there's a police officer awkwardly staring around, possibly judging you, as you do a summer sault inside because you recognize the large white malibu rum bottle. "I recognize it and it's delicious" (a 21 year old girl might say). Despite the fact that I have 9 year's experience in the alcohol shopping genre, I still constantly think to myself "am I acting the way I should act if I was over 21? Am I acting in a way that may make them think I'm 19?! I hate that I still look 16."

I can't be the only person who feels like these two establishments are awkward. I'm sure there are more places I feel awkward in, but none come to mind right now.