The Strand

After the mall we drove to downtown Marietta on the Square. They were having an antique show. There were many booths and each had antique items for sale.

All of it was interesting. And a few odds and ends I thought it would be interesting to have. But nothing was there that we were willing to spend money.

We went into a sweet shop. Anna ordered a Diet Coke and I ordered coffee and sat down and relaxed in their sweet-shop kind of chairs. Also, because we were paying customers we could use their restrooms. A sign on each restroom door said “No Public Restrooms – Customers Only”.

Interesting after we used to restroom I saw a lady go back and tried the door to the women’s restroom. From where I was sitting I could see down along the wall and her. When she tried the door it would not open. Maybe she didn’t try hard enough, because from my position I could also see no one else had entered that restroom since Anna walked out. Then, the lady looked around and opened the men’s restroom. She looked around in again and convinced no one was looking at her stepped in the men’s bathroom and shut the door. I was invisible again.

For the past several years when we go to an event like the one this day or an arts and craft show I usually see this little twerp walking around with a hand held puppet that you can also control mouth and limb movement by a series of strings and sticks. I noticed several times in the past he would get try to get the attention of a little kid by his amazing marionette abilities. Usually, the parents with the small kid he was trying to entertain would either ignore him or move on. He just wanted a little attention. He somehow reminds me of Napoleon Dynamite's passive wimpy brother - well, they look similar, but this guy has red hair.

In the sweet shop a minute or so before we left he walked in with a girl. He looked very nervous. It might have been his first date with her. In fact, it may have been his first date – ever. I was tempted to go up to him and give him the high-five and say, “You old dog! Your chick magnet finally worked!” But I didn’t.

Next we noticed people were coming and going in the old closed Strand Theater. If you remember the movie The Majestic and how it looked in its prime you have an idea what the Strand Movie Theater looked like. From the time I was about five years old until I was a teenager I was there every Saturday morning. And then later, we went to the movie after school and usually on weekend nights. It was a big part of my life. They had a table set up for take donations to rebuild The Strand Theater and also selling beautiful black tee shirts that said, “Friends of the Strand”. I couldn’t help myself, I bought me one.

We also got to walk around and look at the old Strand, now bare of paint and chandeliers, and other sparkling and well lit things. The big theater room looked much smaller with no seats in it. They hope to have it restored by the Winter of 2007.

I hope so.