Less miserable with shopping options

FROM ROOSEVELT by Linda Schuster: Views and observations from Roosevelt Borough.

By:
   What a relief to finally have more stores in East Windsor. For a long time, anything resembling a department store was not to be found nearby for Rooseveltians. Our choices were either Wal-Mart and the Big K in Lawrence, the Quaker Bridge Mall or Freehold Raceway Mall. That was trekking it.
   What I did was keep a running list on my refrigerator of what was needed by the family so that I could make one trip a month. OK, OK, I only went every two months.
   This wasn’t exactly Mardis Gras. You make do. You know, all the boring stuff like jeans for the kids and window shades have to be purchased at some point in time. On our designated shopping day, the little sweeties would drag around Wal-Mart with me in an afflicted state of being. I won’t bother you with irritating details. Just know that "Les Miserables" had nothing on us.
   We got used to it. Some things you are wise to accept in this life. But it was a hassle, nonetheless. It’s amazing what you can buy at a drug store. CVS has been a staple — not to mention Staples — for a quickie run to pick up a birthday party gift. A lifesaver for us local Les Mis-types. Last spring Target opened in East Windsor. Roosevelt women were all a quiver.
   It’s disgusting, but true. The hot scoop was dispatched to me by one of my neighbors. Though stunned by the story, I scrambled to gather my senses. "You mean I don’t have to drive 25 minutes for washcloths and a lampshade?" I asked incredulously, tilting my head far to the right.
   We searched for excuses to christen the place. We didn’t have to search too far. Our lists of needed household items were already longer than the express line at Shop-Rite on a Friday afternoon. And though the novelty has since evaporated, Target remains a convenience.
   My husband has a carpentry business. His visits to Home Depot are as frequent as well, what can I say, as a frog to the creek. Unfortunately, there is no Home Depot close to where we live. The nearest one to Roosevelt is in Hamilton. Alan plans well. But in his line of work an unexpected happening usually demands more materials for the job. Immediately. What this means is a lot of time spent traveling back and forth to Home Depot.
   It occurs more than once a day on a regular basis. He tells me there is a new Home Depot going up in East Windsor on the corner of Route 33 and Route 130. He has been patient with the existing situation but this is headlining news for The Frogman. It translates into much less driving time for him and more time working at the job site. Clearly a plus.
   We are happier living in Roosevelt now than when we got here. No longer tortured through the lack of accessible shopping, normal, necessary buying remains suffrage no more. We have gone from Les Mis to feeling much less miserable, and that is a good thing.
Linda Schuster is a freelance writer living in Roosevelt, where she is gratified by increased purchasing options.