Sicko is socko, but Short Pump sucks

Sarah and I went to see Sicko recently out in suburbia. The only places the film is playing in the Richmond area are way the hell out beyond our usual stomping grounds. We loved the film and both found it surprisingly moving, especially the Cuban segment. The expedition really brought home to us, however, what city dwellers we are and how ill-suited we are to the car habitat. Short Pump, where the 14 screen monstrosity resides where we saw the film, is a big box nightmare with seas of cars and lanes and lanes of traffic to go anywhere. We had intended while there to go two blocks up the road to the Apple Store. (I hope to get a new keyboard before beginning another novel; this one is falling apart). The idiocy of getting in a car to make the journey was anathema to us, but our attempt to walk soon proved impossible. The Times-Dispatch ran a cover story on the unfortunate dangers of driving—one of our leading ways to die in this country—with several suggestions for improving your odds. Driving less wasn’t one of them and certainly not living somewhere you didn’t need to drive to go a couple of blocks. I’ll stay in the city where it’s safer.

3 thoughts on “Sicko is socko, but Short Pump sucks

  1. For what it’s worth, ‘Sicko’ is/was playing at Virginia Center 20, which is in a much more easily-navigated part of the ‘burbs.

  2. Hey Robert. We knew that, but we also had a gift card for a store in Short Pump, and there was the lure of the Apple Store… We’re just wimps. I was imagining Short Pump being more like Virginia Center Commons.

  3. I’m glad to know that other rational people exist. I get ridiculous amounts of heckling from people because I refuse to get a car or drive. I don’t even like being in them honestly. City good. Walking good. Cars bad. Suburbs…scary.

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