Emotional in the Grocery Store

The songs played are so nice sometimes. I love this one by Tracy Chapman -- "Fast Car." Here are some excerpts that I like, along with some comments...

"You got a fast car, fast enough so we can drive away."

The theme of the song perhaps. I used to want to just get away when I was young. Now I live states away in a city and guess I have gotten away. But it's kind of bittersweet. Do all kids want to seek out new things? Find meaning by getting away. Looking for it.


"You and I can both get jobs,
Finally see what it means to be living."

This statement from the song is eye-catching for me. Now that I have a job and see what it's like. My goodness. This is what it's like to be living with a job. Sometimes good, rewarding. Often a hassel. An unwanted burden. But we just have to cling to what makes it good. And when we're young, isn't it odd how we don't feel like we're actually living? Even though we are. As teens we are living. We just feel like we're not because we don't get much say in the direction of our lives. Then there's a heady period in our early 20s when we get total control (if we're lucky and find ourselves in college then). We bumble through, get a degree, land a job, and find out what it really means to be living. Hm.


"I I had a feeling that I belonged. I I had a feeling that I could be someone. Be someone. Be someone."

All we really want is to feel like we can be someone. Hope is so important. Hope for the future drives everything. We're so optimistic.

As teens we're so hopeful. So sure we'll be someone. How hard can it be?

Asked what we want to be when we grow up, two of us in one of my middle school classes confidently said "actor." No problem. The guidance counselor gave us printouts listing the types of classes we'd need and the things we could do to prepare. But then those dreams fade when we're not picked for the plays, when we get shy and realize it might be difficult to be an actress. Hmmm.

Then we come up with a series of other dreams and plans for life. Careers. And we find the flaws in each by trying them out or taking a class. Then we get plunked into one that seems fine. Now we try to figure out how to be upwardly mobile. Hm indeed.