That's Life: The Ephs Are Back In Town
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They were in Friendly's in North Adams, eating lunch; the Williamstown Savings Bank, opening checking accounts; St. Patrick's Church on Southworth Street, attending Sunday Mass; in the parish center, selecting items left from Saturday's tag sale, which were being offered free of charge, and they were biking across Main Street and shopping in the supermarket.
If I were paranoid, I might have imagined they were stalking me. But since they number approximately 5,000, I realized it was not unusual to come upon some of them while I am out and about.
Yes, it is Williams College students to whom I refer.
I am glad they are back and the town once more feels complete — sort of like home when the children return from summer amp.
As the mother of a Williams alumnus, I think of my son when I see a student walking on the winding paths of the campus, backpack slung over his shoulder.
Memories of my son's college days were also evoked at Stop & Shop, when a young man, wearing a purple shirt on which Williams and the letters JA (junior adviser) were emblazoned, grabbed a box of Cheez-Its from a shelf and tossed it into his shopping cart. You see, I had often mailed packages to my son that included his favorite snacks: Cheez-Its, Entenmann's chocolate doughnuts and Entenmann's crumb cake. (I am not a Rachael Ray or a Martha Stewart, but for my son's birthday, I did bake and mail to him the chocolate chip cookies he most liked.) Sunday in the supermarket, I noticed befuddled students searching in vain for products, and I volunteered to help. Thus, I directed two students to the shelves where sodas and puddings are stacked. Later, when I handed a copy of the store's printed directory to a student who identified herself as a freshman, you would have thought it was a treasure map.
"How kind of you," she said. "Thanks so much."
I do not usually need to refer to the directory but Sunday I wanted to find something not ordinarily on my shopping list; I had a yen for butterscotch syrup to top the vanilla ice cream I was looking forward to enjoying after dinner. Buying that syrup, however, defeated my purpose, as I had driven to the supermarket solely to buy the Breyers ice cream that was on sale. And since the syrup cost $3 and the ice cream was only $1.99 less than the regular price, I actually spent not only what I had "saved "on the ice cream but an additional dollar as well.
I like to take advantage of sales so I will have something to contribute to the conversation when my friends brag about what great bargain hunters they are. But is it only my friends - or myself as well - I am trying to fool into believing I am a wise shopper is a question I am unable to answer.
Of course, if prices continue to rise, I may be forced to buy only bargain merchandise. Bess, a dear friend of mine who lives in Pittsfield, says the only way we can avoid spending money is to stay out of the stores. It is true for many people that, though bargain prices entice them to shop in certain stores, they also pile into their shopping carts higher priced items that called out to them, "Buy me."
Students at St. Patrick's Church's parish center on Sunday could not be tempted to part with cash, as nothing there was for sale.
One student chose a desk lamp, no doubt to use in his dormitory room. Neatly dressed and well groomed, he made a nice appearance, and I wondered if he had a girlfriend.
Trust me, I am not a "cougar" interested in snaring a young man to be my companion. But I admit now that my granddaughter Alyssa is 17, I assess male Williams students in a way I never did before: "Hmm would he make a suitable boyfriend for Alyssa?" Suitable, in this case, meaning a model of exemplary behavior.
Another quality appeals to Alyssa, judging from a comment she made after I spoke to a blue-eyed, dark-haired male student who was sitting in a booth at Friendly's. "He's cute, Grandma," she said.
My cup would run over if Alyssa changed her mind about enrolling in a college near her home in Long Island and instead attended Williams. That is wishful thinking taken to the extreme, but life is full of surprises, isn't it?
