Ashley and I (Rachel) met at Huntington University. We had never met before. Basically, we met because she lived in the room across the hall from me. Since then, we have found multiple things in common, ranging from interest in anime/manga to where we live. We have a beautiful friendship where the puns and snark runs strong. However, because of the shenanigans we get into, we've noticed a few things you only find in a sassy friend. Note: This is set up kind of like a conversation between the two of us, so buckle up kids. We're going for a ride.
1. The Toast
Rachel: The Toast is a family owned diner located in downtown Anderson, IN. (Not sponsored, I swear.) Everyone in town knows where it is, even if they've never been inside.
Ashley: I own a shirt from the Toast and wore it in front of Rachel. She recognized it and asked if I was from Anderson. This was basically the start of our friendship.
2. Same City, Different Schools
A: I went to a private Christian school for my middle school and high school career. we never met during my elementary years in public school though.
R: I went to public school, basically for my entire school career. However there were a lot of elementary schools in Anderson. We never met then because not only did we live in different areas of town, we were in different grades. I'm a good year and a half older than Ashley.
3. Things You Know About The Town
R: From Good's Candy Store, to landmarks downtown, we basically know the entire city between the two of us.
A: The fun part is figuring out how to get to places the other doesn't know about. For example: As the driver, Edgewood is a vague idea to me without a map.
R: But I can get there in a heartbeat.
A: Also, there are so many places that are referred to as the "old Hobby Lobby", or the "old Walmart" or even the "old Blockbuster". Places move around so much or go out of buisness or leave town- I'm looking at you GM, Michael's, JCPenny, Old Navy, Joanne's, and Target.
4. GET IN LOSER, WE'RE GOING SHOPPING
R: LITERALLY EVERY TIME WE GET IN THE CAR
A: Most of the time we're not even going shopping. (I'm very proud of this)
5. What's Different Compared To High School Friends
R: Unlike others who know each other from the same hometown, Ashley and I didn't know each other before college. As a result, we don't have any stories from high school that lead to inside stories and jokes from that time period. Instead, we get to start with Ashley's freshman year at HU.
A: Don't worry though, we still have a lot of inside jokes and we love to make movie or book references to each other as much as possible. As Rachel stated before, we have an endless supply of sarcasm.
6. Giving Directions
R: This is probably the most difficult part about driving with Ashley. If I know where something is and she doesn't, I have to give directions. But she always wants an idea of where we are going before we leave. I do much better giving directions as we go along, rather than big picture at the beginning. Good thing I basically have a built in GPS for anywhere I've been before...
A:I'm a picture person- art major here- and I have Siri on maps on my phone. I just like knowing basically where we're going before we leave, just in case I need to use the maps on my phone.
R: And we can't refer back to places relevant to us in high school. I mean, we can try, but it probably won't do us any good.
7. SARCASM - LEVEL 2319
A: Do you think we've mentioned the sarcasm level enough?
R: Yeah probably...We might have lost our two readers by now...
8. Ricker's
A: This is a gas station chain that is in Anderson and in Fort Wayne but not in Huntington. They're known to have the best fountain pop of any gas station in town and the fountain drinks and donuts are pretty cheap. Speedway is their rival gas station in Anderson, and is also widely unknown in Huntington.
9. Which Pay-less? - NOT The Shoe Store
R: (the point is that we get it confused with Owen's- call it Kroger to make sure everyone knows what we mean- "Payless" bags are the same as Walmart bags)
A:There are three of these in Anderson alone, and more in surrounding towns. I'm not talking about Payless Shoe Stores, but the Pay-Less Supermarket is a grocery store chain that used to be family owned and now is owned by Kroger.
10. The Mall
A: There's literally nothing to do here. Except Tony's Pizza, the movie theater and a used bookstore. And the Maurices, Claire's, Bath and Body Works, Carson's and- you know what, nevermind, there's actually quite a bit there. It's just that none of it is as popular as a Starbucks or Old Navy.
11. LIBRARY TRIPS
A: We could spend hours there
R: We HAVE spent hours there... in one trip.
12. Road Trips
A: Ugh. I'm always taking you places. (Said with love.)
R: Because we're from the same town, we tend to carpool to and from school. Because we're good friends, we go other places together, including random trips to Marion or Fort Wayne. We also have the same taste in music, so I get to play D.J. while Ashley drives.
A; Yeah, there's lots of karaoke...
13. "Why are we friends again...?"
A: No freakin' clue...
R: It just kind of happened. We have very different personalities, but we somehow balance each other out.
A: This topic comes up a lot...
14. "I was here first...literally..."
R: In more ways than one. I'm older, came to HU first, live in Hardy first...The list goes on.
A: But I'll probably be here longer...
15. "Read this, it hurts."
R: Ashley likes to make me read stuff that will make me cry or really angry. Part of me thinks she just likes to see my reactions.
A: That's exactly it. It's as close to a psychology degree as I'll ever get.
16. A punny exitance
R: SO MANY PUNS. IT'S PUNTASTIC.
A: It's shocking how far we got before we mentioned this. We deserve punishment for that alone.
R: I'm udderly ashamed.
We don't know how it started, but we both know we don't want it to end.
