The Things We Don't Notice

It's really funny to me how we become so habituated to some things that we don't even notice them anymore.

What's even weirder to me is that we don't even notice when those same things are GONE!

I was talking with a colleague about the advantages/disadvantages of living here. We both agreed that we miss being able to see our families without having a full day of travel to get there. Both of us miss certain stores and certain restaurants. Then I said, "Aw man I miss road trips!" Because, you see, when you live on an island, you can only drive SO FAR.

Granted we can hop a 25-minute flight to one of the neighbor islands, which makes for a wonderful weekend getaway. But you still have to pack an actual suitcase, drive to the airport, pay for parking, get there early to go through security, get on the plane, rent a car on the other end, etc, etc. To go a distance of 40-50 miles.

So, I was telling this colleague about how The Good.Sport and I are big fans of the weekend road trip. We love to just haphazardly toss a bag or two of clothes and toothbrushes in the car, leash up the dog, fill the cooler with goodies, and go. True, we typically have a destination in mind - especially if we plan to be away overnight - but we truly enjoy just getting out of town to somewhere completely different. We love the time in the car. The loud music and my (questionable) singing. Stopping at the most outrageous rest stops we can find. Driving a mere couple of hours to do fun activities like wine tasting, hiking, kayaking, sight-seeing, cheesesteak-eating - you name it - this is one of our absolute favorite things to do together.

Here we are at the World's Largest Shoe House.

Which is located in Hallam, Pennsylvania.

Next up? The world's largest ball of twine.

(Triple bonus points if you know what movie that came from)

So anyways, these are the things I'm describing to my colleague, as she nods nostalgically.

And then she says, "Oh! And the BILLBOARDS! I MISS BILLBOARDS!"

[insert sound of record scratching]

What?

Billboards?

And she says, "Yeah, there are no billboards here."

Oh.

My.

Gosh.

THERE ARE NO BILLBOARDS HERE.

I'm not disturbed by this fact, necessarily. It's more the fact that I didn't notice it.

At. All.

Growing up in Chicago, a drive down the Kennedy regularly took me past some of the best billboards of all time. The light-up Magikist lips. The blinking Coke sign. Then, in later years, the creepy (er, technolocgically advanced!) turning billboard. And who could forget the Dennis Rodman mural with the hair?

When I lived in North Carolina, I could measure how much of the drive between Beaufort and Durham (or vice versa) was left based on which billboards I'd already passed.

"Pig in a Puppy! We're almost halfway!"

"Oh, here's the first sign for Dockside Dolls. Won't be long now til we get home!"

And if you've ever driven I-95 through South Carolina, you're familiar with the billboards for "South of the Border." My all-time favorite?

"You Never Sausage A Place!"

I guess I've become desensitized to the presence of roadside advertising.

So much so that when you take it away completely, I don't. even. notice.

It's not that I don't look out the window. It's not that I don't appreciate the scenery here. I do! I do! How did I miss this??

I guess when you're not specifically looking for something (and let's face it, here you are never more than a few minute's drive from a clean bathroom), you don't notice its presence (or lack thereof).

Fascinating!

I wonder what people who have never left this island think when they go to the mainland?

Surely they notice the billboards...