I write this post today from a public place. I'm only half facetious when I say I think it solidifies my hipster cred to be blogging on my laptop as the passersby pass by. I could be at Starbucks drinking a $5 cup of coffee, or I could be at Baker Street Pub drinking a $5 beer. Both establishments offer free wi-fi as a way to suck you in. 500% markup beverage addiction enablers that project the air of comfort and relaxation as they peddle their tasty and overpriced wares.
But I'm not at the coffee shop. I'm not at the pub. I'm in a place more appropriate and yet less fashionable. I'm at the public library. Now this is free wi-fi...or at least wi-fi pre-paid by my tax dollars...that is if I wasn't late on my taxes. Borrowed wi-fi? Refinanced wi-fi? Whatever the correct term for it is, I'm just glad it was available to me as I kill some time before a dinner date. More on the date in a minute.
Until a few months ago I hadn't been in a library since college, or a public library since high school. I love to read, but it was as if as soon as I started being able to afford to buy my own books this giant treasure trove of FREE books ceased to exist in my stream of consciousness. How many boxes of books have I carted from apartment to apartment over the years? How many times have I actually un-boxed and re-read any of them? The answers are: too many and not nearly enough.
And it gets worse (or better depending on your relative amount of participation at your local library). The library has movies! and DVDs! Some of it is really good stuff too! And they let you keep it for basically as long as you want. It's like low-tech Netflix...err...or something.
I rediscovered the library because I wanted to introduce my son to it. He's 3 now and already showing some aptitude for letters and numbers, not to mention a startling knack for jigsaw puzzles. One Saturday morning last fall we jumped in my truck and drove the (very) few short blocks to the library. I had to literally drag him out of there and hour later. He didn't want to leave...and frankly neither did I. I had forgotten how much the simple pleasure of being surrounded by real, tangible, near limitless knowledge is a comfort to me..and it's all right there for the taking. I'm reminded of the scene in Good Will Hunting when Will rips on the Harvard grad student for wasting his money when he could have gotten the same education for $3.50 in late fees on his library card.
Will gets the girl too. "Do you like apples?" "Yeah." "Well I got her number. How you like them apples?"
Which leads me to part two of tonight's post. I have a date tonight. I intend to write a full post about the financial pitfalls that accompany the pursuit of eternal happiness with a mate...or even just a night out with some attractive company, but I digress. It's unlikely I will extract myself, and my financial fast, from this evening unscathed. I had lobbied for a quiet (and no cost) night in, watching movies at my place...which was denied by the other half of this engagement in favor of meeting for a bite to eat. Now this doesn't fit in at all with my plans for this month, and I certainly could have politely declined, but in the post-divorce, single parenting, 35 and over world, turning down a hot (or even luke-warm) date is akin to looking a gift horse in the mouth...and my date has much nicer teeth than Mr. Ed ever did.
I suspect that since she suggested we eat out that she will offer to pay. I'm prepared to cover my portion of the night if need be...and the entirety of the check if this ends up as something a little less...modern. Whatever the result, it's becoming more and more clear that not spending money while still being an active participant in the world I live in is a more difficult endeavor than I imagined.
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