Freaky Friday on Thursday

Our daughter, Anita, is getting ready to fly the coop. She is headed off on her first year of college about eight hours away by car. She has a lap-top she was required to buy for high school but after four years of heavy use, and the fact she told us a month after getting it the technology was already obsolete, we went in search of a new lap-top to take her through the next four years. We looked in all of the usual places. Wal-mart, Staples, Best Buy, etc, etc, etc. She said, "I want to go look at a MacBook. And I want to go to an Apple store and have someone show it to me." I asked where the closest Apple store was and she said, "At the Florida Mall in Orlando." We made plans to go.

My husband suggested we take the back roads, staying away from the dreaded I-4. That was mistake one. It took forever to get from our house to the mall, over two hours! I was exhausted before we ever set foot in the parking lot which was kaotic at best.

We entered the mall and mixed with the heavy stew of shoppers. You would never know we are in the middle of a depression by the mass of people swarming everywhere. My daughter located a directory and we were soon on our way, I felt like the ball in a Pin Ball machine, bouncing off people, columns and planters. After several stops and starts for me to catch my breath we arrived at our final destination. The Apple Store.

I looked at the store front and was surprised at how different it was from the surrounding stores. They were all open and airy looking with large plate-glass windows and doors. The Apple Store was solid black. That should have been clue one. There didn't seem to be a door. Clue two. There was a large sign where a door should have been. Clue three. The sign read, "We are closed for re-modeling to better serve you, we will re-open on Friday July 31st. That would be the next day. Up to this point Anita had been in a foul mood from being a teenager with sleep deprivation. I had been my usual Mary Poppins' self. The instant we read the sign, Freaky Friday happened. Anita started laughing and I started cursing. The louder I cursed the harder she laughed. I finally calmed down and we saw an odd assortment of people bend down, open the door and go into the store. I started getting mad again. Why did they get to go in and we didn't. We watched for some time, finally getting up the nerve to go up to the door and try to go in. We couldn't figure out how to open the latch at the bottom of the door. We peeped through the crack and saw young people, anyone under 30 is a young person to me, under tables. At first glance they appeared to be sitting and talking, I was more determined than ever to get in and learn about Apples and I don't mean the kind you eat. Then I noticed they weren't talking they were attaching wires etc. We left, ate lunch that further helped in calming me, then looked around. The Florida Mall is an amazing place. It had some shops we don't have down in our neck of the woods. When we had had enough and needed to get home for our hair appointment we left. In the book store I looked at a map and found a non-toll link to I-4 and we left.

The trip home was much faster than than the trip to. We were home in about an hour, I'll never go the back way again. After a second Intel gathering trip when the store was open and a third trip with dad, we came home with an amazing lap-top, printer and touch pad I -Pod. The printer and I-Pod both come with full rebates, yeah! Now for all the other important items she needs, refrigerator and TV. Until next time, avoid Freaky Friday.