I don't care about back to school pics, but you got me with the Pepsi Machines.
In my (small midwestern) hometown, there is a random vending machine on a streetcorner near (but not *in*) downtown. It sits on the far end of a parking lot for an 8-unit apartment building and is chained to a telephone pole. The sidewalk in front of it is badly cracked and the vending machine sits on an angle. It's graphics are so faded you can barely make out that it's a Diet Coke machine with a 2-versions-ago logo design. It looks fully abandoned. It dispenses ICE COLD canned Coke exclusively by coin operation.
It is my favorite landmark and when it inevitably disappears, I may never return to that neighborhood.
Listen, I love all the comments from folks who share my appreciation for back to school pics, but I can 't tell you how great it is to get a "yeah, school pics, whatever.... THOSE PEPSI MACHINES THO" comment.
Re: your hometown Diet Coke machine. Completely unironically, it sounds gorgeous. I hate that it might not be there forever. It deserves to be there forever.
Now I need to know how these parking-lot vending machines even WORK! Don't they need to be plugged in somewhere?? I don't see any extension cords or anything!
As someone who works from home and doesn't encounter vending machines all that frequently, I find them fun and exotic. My husband's late grandfather used to service vending machines, and I always thought that must be an interesting job, seeing what the most popular snacks are at any given office or college.
I feel like vending machines have gone the way of the pay phone and I think they are so useful and there have been many occasions I wanted one and there was none (for snacks, I care not about soda).
My back to school pics would be of the neighborhood kids running through our back yard with their backpacks bouncing, down to the uneven steps (kept clear of blackberries by our 89 year old retired dairy farmer neighbor with his weed whacker) that lead down to the bus stop on the narrow rural road that circles our island, depositing them at Beach School, a K-5 elementary with two main multi-grade classrooms, incredible teachers, and a culture of respect for others. About half of the students come there from off-island. I volunteer once a week, hanging out with half of a class doing math while the teacher concentrates on the other half. I also helped out in my own kids' classrooms until they didn't want me around anymore, always struck by how much harder their teachers' jobs were than mine teaching 7-13, and always concluding that the teachers I've know that thrive in P-6 should all get Presidential Medals of Freedom. And, if they don't thrive, we should be asking ourselves, what more should we do so that they can?
I can't share ours with you because I promised my kid I wouldn't show anyone but his dad. Not even grandparents are allowed to see this photo. But I can tell you that our photos are taken on the porch next to our year-round skeleton, and that the kid holds up a piece of notebook paper I wrote on with a Sharpie two minutes before the photo was taken.
This is perfect. Cheers to your kid and their great instincts on public picture sharing. Cheers to you and the scribbled on notebook paper. Most of all, cheers to the year round skeleton for holding it down better than most of us.
I love all the back to school pics too! I was glad to see a couple from friends of their kids in dorm rooms on move in day! I’m moving my oldest 3 hours away to college tomorrow!! I’m a wreck lol!
My younger 3 go back on Friday.
I mostly use Facebook. I have the other major ones, but don’t spend time on them. I’m just old and used to Facebook lol.
Also, once I retrieve my phone which I explicably left in my car this morning, I am going to take a back-to-school picture of myself, inspired by this post. But really, I'm here for the vending machines.
Hell yeah to taking a back to school pic of yourself. As for the Pepsis… I’VE NEVER BOUGHT ONE! I KNOW! I’m saving it for a day when I’m with three other people and we all want a Pepsi at the same time
My eldest's 8th birthday and first day of school is today, so this was a timely read! He is goofing off in nearly all photos, which I could have reacted better to in the moment--I was definitely in the "THIS IS FOR POSTERITY, GET IT TOGETHER AND SMILE NORMALLY" mode and thinking about all the other details to make this happen. But now that I see those pictures of him being his full self, right in front of that setting full moon and they are perfection. I'm so glad he is who he is.
First off CONGRATULATIONS to every member of your household on this multiple milestone day! And goodness if this isn't one of those reminders that we periodically need to get over and over again, that actually we love those closest to us not for their polish, but for every single one of their wacky edges.
I also love back to school photos and for awhile I thought it was something I wasn't going to get to contribute to because homeschooling is kind of a year round enterprise. But NEXT WEEK all 3 dudes in my family go back to school: the small kid to 1st grade, his dad to another semester of college math classes online, and the big kid to take those classes with him. I am now extra motivated to take back to school photos!
I don't care about back to school pics, but you got me with the Pepsi Machines.
In my (small midwestern) hometown, there is a random vending machine on a streetcorner near (but not *in*) downtown. It sits on the far end of a parking lot for an 8-unit apartment building and is chained to a telephone pole. The sidewalk in front of it is badly cracked and the vending machine sits on an angle. It's graphics are so faded you can barely make out that it's a Diet Coke machine with a 2-versions-ago logo design. It looks fully abandoned. It dispenses ICE COLD canned Coke exclusively by coin operation.
It is my favorite landmark and when it inevitably disappears, I may never return to that neighborhood.
Listen, I love all the comments from folks who share my appreciation for back to school pics, but I can 't tell you how great it is to get a "yeah, school pics, whatever.... THOSE PEPSI MACHINES THO" comment.
Re: your hometown Diet Coke machine. Completely unironically, it sounds gorgeous. I hate that it might not be there forever. It deserves to be there forever.
Now I need to know how these parking-lot vending machines even WORK! Don't they need to be plugged in somewhere?? I don't see any extension cords or anything!
As someone who works from home and doesn't encounter vending machines all that frequently, I find them fun and exotic. My husband's late grandfather used to service vending machines, and I always thought that must be an interesting job, seeing what the most popular snacks are at any given office or college.
I feel like vending machines have gone the way of the pay phone and I think they are so useful and there have been many occasions I wanted one and there was none (for snacks, I care not about soda).
THOSE PEPSI MACHINES THO!
Gorgeous, magical, a little glowing parade. Nothing but love.
My back to school pics would be of the neighborhood kids running through our back yard with their backpacks bouncing, down to the uneven steps (kept clear of blackberries by our 89 year old retired dairy farmer neighbor with his weed whacker) that lead down to the bus stop on the narrow rural road that circles our island, depositing them at Beach School, a K-5 elementary with two main multi-grade classrooms, incredible teachers, and a culture of respect for others. About half of the students come there from off-island. I volunteer once a week, hanging out with half of a class doing math while the teacher concentrates on the other half. I also helped out in my own kids' classrooms until they didn't want me around anymore, always struck by how much harder their teachers' jobs were than mine teaching 7-13, and always concluding that the teachers I've know that thrive in P-6 should all get Presidential Medals of Freedom. And, if they don't thrive, we should be asking ourselves, what more should we do so that they can?
How were you able to pack such a gorgeous, comprehensive window into life on your island into a single paragraph? Jeez this was so delightful to read.
I can't share ours with you because I promised my kid I wouldn't show anyone but his dad. Not even grandparents are allowed to see this photo. But I can tell you that our photos are taken on the porch next to our year-round skeleton, and that the kid holds up a piece of notebook paper I wrote on with a Sharpie two minutes before the photo was taken.
This is perfect. Cheers to your kid and their great instincts on public picture sharing. Cheers to you and the scribbled on notebook paper. Most of all, cheers to the year round skeleton for holding it down better than most of us.
I love all the back to school pics too! I was glad to see a couple from friends of their kids in dorm rooms on move in day! I’m moving my oldest 3 hours away to college tomorrow!! I’m a wreck lol!
My younger 3 go back on Friday.
I mostly use Facebook. I have the other major ones, but don’t spend time on them. I’m just old and used to Facebook lol.
Ooh I forgot to mention the dorm room move-in ones (a relatively recent but very welcome addition to my feed)!
And jeez, I can only imagine all the emotions as you get ready to drive your oldest off to college. I'll be thinking about you all this week!
Thank you! 😊
All I want to know is, DO YOU BUY ANY PEPSI????
Also, once I retrieve my phone which I explicably left in my car this morning, I am going to take a back-to-school picture of myself, inspired by this post. But really, I'm here for the vending machines.
Hell yeah to taking a back to school pic of yourself. As for the Pepsis… I’VE NEVER BOUGHT ONE! I KNOW! I’m saving it for a day when I’m with three other people and we all want a Pepsi at the same time
My eldest's 8th birthday and first day of school is today, so this was a timely read! He is goofing off in nearly all photos, which I could have reacted better to in the moment--I was definitely in the "THIS IS FOR POSTERITY, GET IT TOGETHER AND SMILE NORMALLY" mode and thinking about all the other details to make this happen. But now that I see those pictures of him being his full self, right in front of that setting full moon and they are perfection. I'm so glad he is who he is.
First off CONGRATULATIONS to every member of your household on this multiple milestone day! And goodness if this isn't one of those reminders that we periodically need to get over and over again, that actually we love those closest to us not for their polish, but for every single one of their wacky edges.
I also love back to school photos and for awhile I thought it was something I wasn't going to get to contribute to because homeschooling is kind of a year round enterprise. But NEXT WEEK all 3 dudes in my family go back to school: the small kid to 1st grade, his dad to another semester of college math classes online, and the big kid to take those classes with him. I am now extra motivated to take back to school photos!
Oh whoa!!! How are you feeling? Big changes!!!
Seriously, back-to-school and Halloween kid pics are my favorite times of the year on social media!
You get it!
Garrett!! Prom Pictures!! Or are your friends not old enough for kiddos to be going to prom?
And then, later, friends' kids' weddings.
What I'm learning (and loving) is that I'm in for a nice long lien of These Kind of Photos. Hell yeah.
Oh yeah, that definitely scratches the same age. I'm of the age/social network where I gt SOME prom/graduation photos, but it's not the firehose YET.