Plugged into Edmonton
User Story
By Christie Campbell
Yesterday I got my hair cut at Eveline Charles in West Edmonton Mall. Ashley started our Friday night appointment with a coldwater shampoo (I’m not sure whether that was intentional), and a delightful conditioner treatment and skritch (also known as a scalp massage). After the deep conditioner was rubbed into my hair, a just-slightly-too-warm, damp, steaming towel was draped on my head. While all this was going on, Ashley was asking me questions about myself. She asked what I was doing for Thanksgiving and what my parents and boyfriend were like.
I was reserved with my answers and about inquiring about her because she was a part of The Mall: the big, consumerist wasteland of Edmonton. I viewed her as a part of the mall machine: there to do a job and fulfill needs and desires, not as a person. Because the whole place is so transient and anonymous. But I was curious about her, or maybe she was just trying to make conversation. I asked her what she was doing for Thanksgiving. She said nothing. She had nothing to do on the most delicious holiday of the year.
“Where are you from?” I asked her.
“Saskatchewan,” she answered. She wasn’t from here. She lived with a roommate, she didn’t have a boyfriend, and she was a long, long way from home.
“Do you like Edmonton?” I asked her.
“Oh, you know," she said. And then she paused. “The glamour of the big city. The lights, the nightlife…the people!” She seemed a little too innocent and whimsical. But maybe now that’s how Edmonton seems to people other than myself. People who don't take Edmonton's amenities for granted. “How long have you been here?” she asked, “All your life?”
“All my life.” I replied.
It seemed like she wanted to know me. She wanted me to give her a reason to stay here. A reason to throw her own turkey dinner. Maybe just a little something to give thanks for.
So she asked me what I like about Edmonton. And I told her.
I told her that what I like about Edmonton is exactly what everyone likes about his or her own hometown.
I’m close to friends and family. I know where I like to go for coffee, for lunch, for a good time. I know that every minute people in Edmonton like me are doing exactly what they want to be doing where they want to be doing it: raising families, earning degrees, getting famous, or just getting by.
Ashley nodded. She said the town she was from only had 1 grocery store, no theatre, 1 bank, and not a single Chinese restaurant. There was never anything new. No surprises. No adventures.
“Do you ever miss Saskatchewan?” I asked.
“No.” She said.
Ashley loves it here. And, you know what? I love it here too. Whatever my heart’s desire, I can find it somewhere close. I know where to watch the game with other avid Oilers fans (Shanks). I know where to get the best cheap wings on Wednesday (Hudsons). I know where the best seamstress in the city works (156 & Stony Plain).
I can’t say I love the weather, but it allows one to inconspicuously gain a few Christmas pounds.
Ashley said she didn’t know whether she was going to stay in Edmonton for Christmas. Her family would probably pay for a ticket back home. But she thinks she'll end up staying here. Edmonton is her livelihood. She’s following her dream and doing what she’s wanted to be doing from the time she learned what a career was. And so am I. So are a lot of people. This place is important and exciting. It really sucks you in. Every day I learn something new about it: festivals, galleries, writers, actors, events, politicians! Edmonton is very plugged in… and I’m very plugged into Edmonton.
I'm sure both me and Ashley are going to be here for a long, long time.
