Introducing: Scenes from the Front Door

The store is on a fairly busy street that connects the small towns of Shirley, Devens, and Ayer, MA. As I sit at my desk looking out the front windows, I see a lot of cars and people go by. My store is next to an oldtime barber and a florist, and at the other end of the shopping plaza is a pizza joint, Asian market and Chinese restaurant.

Two kids in a clunker with a noisy muffler were pulled over last Thursday.

Over the past few months I've noticed several things as I sit in my chair looking out the windows:

• People don't like to park in front of the store they are going in to. Most of my customers park at least two spots to the left of my store while people going to the barber next door tend to park in front of my store.
• Even though the barber hangs a big "Closed" sign in his door when he is closed, most people drive in, park, stare at the door, look around, and then backup and drive away. It never fails, even when there are no cars in front.
• Random drivers use the parking lot for quick naps, reading, killing time, or as a staging spot to go for a run or meet others.
• I know it is 3:30ish when a couple of schools buses turn around in the parking lot.
• Kids from the school down the street would rather stand in the cold rain in the parking lot smoking and doing nothing than do it somewhere warm and dry. When asked if they have nothing better to do, their response is, "No."
• People who have never heard of disc golf make the funniest faces when they walk by the store and try to figure out just what the heck I am selling. Yesterday was the best yet when a man and woman walked by twice. The man stuck his face up to the window, put his hands by his eyes and peered in, oblivious to the three of us staring right back at him. He face was pure confusion.
• People who take up one and a third parking spots like to give me the stink eye when I park as close as possible to them in my spot. One guy gave me the evil eye, backed out, got out to inspect his door for dings, and gave me an even more evil eye when he didn't find any. Like I'm the asshole.