very medium thoughts

There is a much more famous coffee shop that is literally on every corner, and I’ll talk about it’s glory in another post.

Today, though, I’m pulling for the small guy, or gal, to be exact. For the best cup of joe, you don’t have to look farther than Marylou’s Coffee. And, they’re not hard to spot. Their stores are all bright pink! To top it all off, my house is literally 4 minutes walking distance to Marylou’s in Rockland. I think there are 24 of them throughout the area, so the chain is not exactly tiny.

The crazy part about our Marylou’s, though, is that there is NO parking. I don’t mean inconvenient parking, I mean ZERO, NADA. You have to stop your car on the side of the street and run in and grab your coffee. The first time I went in, I walked down there in hopes of grabbing a table and using some Wi-Fi. They don’t have either. And, they don’t take debit cards. It’s cash or nothing. But, I’m learning…and any inconvenience is totally worth it.

So far, the only beverages I have had is just the good ol’ medium regular, but Ellie says their hot chocolate is pretty good, too. Now, if I could just talk them into wi-fi and a table just for me…

Now that I’ve lived in Rockland, Massachusetts in the South Shore area for 3 weeks, I feel like it’s my privilege to tell the rest of the world about what there is to love right here. And let me tell you, there are plenty of reasons. In fact, all I can figure is that the rumors about New Englanders must be started just to help keep congestion down, because if the word gets out, tons of people will want to move here (Except for the taxes. That’s not a rumor.).

So, I thought I would just start with this one because, honestly, it’s been one of the biggest surprises to me.

I’ve heard that Boston drivers are crazy, and they might be. But, I have been quite surprised by how friendly the drivers are here, just south of Boston. In fact, I have never been “waved through” so many intersections in my life. At first I thought, maybe people somehow sensed that I was in need of help being from out of state, but as I’ve talked to more and more people, I realize that it is universal. You can just expect to be waved, signaled, or otherwise instructed on how to drive as you navigate the streets of the South Shore.

Let me see if I can explain: Let’s say you are driving down a two-lane road, and there’s plenty of traffic coming from the other direction. You need to turn left so you put on your turn signal and stop, preparing to wait for several minutes while the huge line of traffic empties. Suddenly, with no warning, one of the drivers slams on his brakes and gives you the friendly “wave” to turn in front of the waiting wall of vehicles. You turn, and life returns to normal. Unreal.

Or this one: You come to a 4-way stop, and instead of just doing the “I got here first” thing, you stop. The guy on your left looks at you and genuinely wants you to go first so he gives you the “wave” and you think to yourself, “That guy is nice,” but then you think, “Hey, wait a minute! Didn’t I have the right-of-way?” Why yes, yes you did. But don’t lose sight of the main point: that guy is just a Nice Driver.

Sure, there’s the occasional “road-rager” or the “honker” but they seem to be laying low for now. So now, go spread the news: New Englanders (at least those who live in South Shore) drive nice.