Where There's A Will . . .

They say, "Where there's a will, there's a way." But sometimes you just have to improvise. I've been finding that out a lot lately, especially living in a new place and being in a new town.

All of the newer buildings and businesses must meet requirements for the Americans With Disabilities Act and are pretty accessible. But Pampa has a lot of old buildings downtown, which haven't kept up with the times. That makes going to these places a real challenge, if not almost impossible.

There's the famous Coney Island cafe downtown, for example. This little hole-in-the-wall cafe has been here at least 50 years. Mom tells about going there when she was in school (so you know it's been there a long time). She says she could get a hot dog and a coke for a dime.

The prices have changed a lot since then but the building has not. Even if I could get my scooter over the bump at the front door, I couldn't get down the long, narrow aisle which is always packed with customers and the waitresses that run back and forth taking orders.

Fortunately, the Coney has take-out! Whenever I get a Coney craving, Mom, who is sometimes a chauffeur and sometimes a deliveryman, is good enough to go pick up an order for me.

The grocery store is another challenge. The stores are up to date and accessible, but gathering my groceries can be tricky. So I've developed a system.

When I go in, I grab one of those small baskets that people can carry if they're only going to get a few items. I put the basket on the floor of my scooter between my legs. The first stop is the soda aisle. There, I take the basket out and get my two 12-pack boxes of pop. I put the two boxes side by side (not stacked) on the floor of the scooter, then I put the basket on top of the cartons of pop. It's a tight squeeze, but I manage.

From there, I can go through the rest of store and get my groceries. The basket won't hold a lot of stuff, but I can pack it in pretty good.

The trick is to put big items in first, like foods that come in boxes (crackers, snack foods, etc.). Then, I can pile smaller items on top. If I need to, I can carry a few items in my lap. It's a pretty good haul by the time I get to the checkout.

At the checkout, the clerk will put the bags on the handle bars of my scooter (This is Wal-Mart, where they don't carry out your bags), then I'm ready to ride out of the store. Sometimes, a passer-by will notice me (How can they miss me?) and offer to load the bags into my truck. That's always nice.

I leave the cartons on pop on the scooter. I load the scooter and pop with the lift on my truck. Then, I can unload it with the lift when I get home and ride it into the house without having to lift the heavy soda cartons each time.

I'm sure Mom would go to the store for me if I wanted her to, but then I'd miss the adventure ... and, of course, all the fun!