From Her Perspective

GOING BACK HOME
By Kati Cawley

So things have changed and I have moved back to the house I grew up in. I am once again an official resident of Canton, Massachusetts. Home of the Bulldogs, Paul Revere, and Reebok and Dunkin Donuts global headquarters. I won’t say it wasn’t hard. Being 26 years old and living on my own since I came back to Boston after college, I was not prepared for what lay ahead of me in my old stomping grounds, and was not exactly thrilled about it. I mean, would I end up some sort of pathetic, Chris-Elliott-in-Get A Life loser, living with my parents as an adult? Or worse, a townie? Things were looking bleak, and I was feeling pretty depressed about it.

However, upon closer examination, I have realized that I may have inadvertently stumbled into a goldmine. When you think about it, there are some pretty sweet things about living at home…

Parents are really excited to do things for you. When I got to my house, my parents were so happy to see me that they immediately offered to take me out to lunch. Being extremely tired and hung over from the night before, I said all I wanted was McDonalds. But that I was very tired. And I put a pitiful look on my face and my dad offered to go get it! When I tried that business with my roommate, all she did was get annoyed and leave the room.

There is always lots of food in the refrigerator. And when it runs out, someone actually buys you more! Living on my own, grocery shopping was widely celebrated yet rarely performed. Here, there are all kinds of fruit and ice cream and juice. Juice! I never bought juice for my apartment. It was too expensive. But here juice flows, well, like juice.

Your friends will put you up with very little argument. It’s too much of a pain for me to come all the way home to Canton when the night is through, so my friends are more than willing to let me crash and then spend the whole day lounging on their couches while they do grown-up things like pay bills and wash windows, two things this chick doesn’t have to worry about anymore. Well, at least for the time being.

Parking. When I was living in town, parking was a huge pain. I wouldn’t go out driving late at night because I was too lazy to look for a new parking space that would inevitably end up being 40 miles from my apartment. Now, I can tool around the 'burbs in my Corolla at all hours with utter abandon. Do I feel like Papa Gino’s late night? I can hop in the car and have it in less than five minutes. Except if it’s after ten. Nothing in Canton is open after ten o’clock at night.

Laundry. If I want to wash my jeans before a hot date, I don’t have to schlep all the way down to Nana’s laundry anymore. I can just walk down the stairs and throw it in myself. For free. And there are no creepy men watching me fold my underwear, which is always nice.

I won’t say there aren’t down sides to moving home. I loved living with my roommate. I loved the freedom that living on your own gives. And there is no way I can bring a boy home after a night of flirting and too much Jack Daniels. But Canton isn’t the worst place in the world. In fact, it kind of rules. So if you’re ever in my neck of the woods, feel free to stop by. And if I’m in town, I may just show up on your doorstep, looking for shelter for the night. What? Come on! Canton is really, really far away...