A much needed pick-me-up

You know those days when you're just not feeling...right. You don't necessarily feel "down", but you obviously don't feel "up" either. You can't exactly pinpoint what those feelings are or even where they originate from, but you just kind of feel unsettled and insecure. Well, I've been feeling this way, on and off, this whole week and...it sucks.

I've been trying to do little things to cheer myself up, like listen to a particular song or do some online shopping (I love Ebay), but they've all fell short of ridding this nagging downer I've been feeling. So, I turned to something that never fails to brighten my spirits nor that of anyone else I know---ice cream! And not just any ice cream, but "Thrifty" hand-scooped ice cream at Rite Aid.

If you never had Thrifty hand-scooped ice cream at Rite Aid, you've been missing out. Rite Aid's Thrifty brand of ice cream is dated way back when Rite Aid was known as "Thrifty Drug" and when it was still customary for pharmaceutical shops to also sell hand-scooped ice cream on its premises. "Thrifty Drug" was later bought out and renamed Rite Aid, but considering the generations of young'uns that grew up to love Thrifty Ice Cream, Rite Aid was smart enough to preserve the in-store ice cream shop (at least on the West Coast).

And so, this is where I headed to get that pick-me-up I so desperately needed. Of course, I had to pick up some buddies on the way and go through the requisite..."Wait, I'm lost...this is the wrong location...turn around, it's located at the OTHER Rite Aid." Apparently, not all Rite Aids serve hand-scooped ice cream. The closest Rite Aid (on the Eastside) that does have an in-store ice cream stand is located on McKee and White.

When we finally arrived and was immediately greeted by the "Thrifty Ice Cream" sign, I felt a little jump of excitement in my stomach, similar to those twinges of excitement I remember from childhood when my dad brought home M&M candies just because.

And really, who wouldn't crack a smile on their face when faced with the close possibility of eating delicious and very affordable ice cream. Because, it ain't called Thrifty ice cream for nothing! $1.29 for one sizable scoop of ice cream. Can you really beat that price? And (to me) it rivals the top ice cream chains in terms of taste and richness.

It also doesn't hurt when you know an employee at Rite Aid who can hook you up with extra servings! (That's why I love the Eastside, where I can always bump into old high school folks who are always more than happy to help me out) Thanks, friend!

On this particular day, I got the Black Cherry flavor. My buddy Amy got pistachio. It really was all I needed to take me away from the general 'blahness' I was feeling. Consuming this delicious cone of ice cream in the most unexceptionable surroundings... in the early evening, sitting outside in the Rite Aid parking lot, the sounds of shopping carts scraping concrete, over a chit-chat session with friends about random events, just enjoying the moment...yeah, that's exactly what I needed.