Kelowna

Nothing can make a person “love money more than things” quicker than strolling a Kelowna mall.  Feel completely sickened and repulsed by the superfluous junk, all brightly lit, packaged, and bedazzled with a horrendous ignorant excess.  And this is normal.  Wait for the loud and masochistic orgy of Christmas splurging, as so many people spend lavishly and painfully beyond their means in a well-intentioned corruption of love.Kelowna isn’t designed for the foot traveller.  All the stores and businesses are large, spread apart, and serviced by gigantic parking lots, all built for a culture of drivers.  The entire city’s design assumes that everyone has a vehicle to go from store to store in.  It’s always been a horrendous town to hitchhike through, but have I ever put a lot of miles on my feet this time. I feel like an anomaly, unusual because I’m on foot.  In places, there aren’t even sidewalks.  Plus people aren’t looking for pedestrians, and since I’m big on jaywalking, I have to be careful.  Ironically, I’m here to become a driver.  I haven’t owned a car in a while, and I’m here to pick up my dream truck, not without a few palpitations and some second guessing.I hitchhiked here this morning.  Quote of the day, on the way: “The last chick I picked up hitchhiking smelled really bad.  I really can’t say the same about you....   ....why are you laughing so hard?”