Quote:
Originally Posted by Trish Crocker
Maybe I'm naive but it seems to me that if I don't want to wait in line at a restaurant, I can always eat at home or go outside of the villages. What about eating at different times? Are the restaurants always lined up or can I go for lunch at 2:00? It's been my experience that most people react to how others treat them, is it possible that some of the people in TV that have lived there a while are projecting their attitude and resentment to others? When you first move into an area, everyone is a stranger and the tendency is to try to make friends...once you have been there a while, you no longer have the need to accumulate more friends, you are quite content with the status quo..therefore you may not make the friendship efforts that you have in the past. When this occurs, you subconsciously miss the 'friendliness' that was there originally, when in all actuality you are partially responsible for it happening. If you want to test this theory, next time you are out and about, pretend you are new there...greet people you don't know with the same enthusiasm you used in the beginning...see if there is a difference. I can't wait to get down there...I will be a grinning, waving fool!  |
You bring up a valid point. When we are here for a while, or anywhere as a matter of fact, we tend to develop a drawbridge mentality. Draw up the gates, we have enough people here. Think it's just part of the human being experience. In some cases, the drawbridge feeling is justified...some areas aren't built to support quite as many people. Is that true here? I'm not sure yet. The place is still a work in progress.
And to answer your question, yes you can take lunch at "off peak" times and not find you're waiting for a table or waiting for a server. In season, I can't deny, it's crowded, but how many times does one have to eat out? After you've been here for a while, and you've gained some extra poundage from all that eating out, it seems to lack the appeal it initially had....
So many things one does when they are newly retired and new to The Villages might just not happen as often as it did when everything was bright, new, fun and you were feeling like a kid in a candy store. Oh, the place still has that wonderful appeal, but you might just be a bit more selective in how and where you decide to spend your time....time, the most precious gift we have. Use it wisely, it's not something easily replaced.