"What do you think that means?"
"Beats me," she said, looking at the sign.
"What is ordinary?" he asked.
"The things you do all the time are ordinary. No surprises, just the everyday stuff."
"Think we could change that?"
"I doubt it," she said, thoughtfully. "I mean you get up each day, brush your teeth, shower, eat, get in your car, go to work, eat some more, read, see friends, or do laundry. All ordinary things. Having said that, I suppose you could put a spin on everything. You could get up at a different time, shower first, wear a cape to work, eat things you've never tried before, that kind of thing."
"You're right," he said, nodding. "Maybe we should do that more often."
"Nothing is stopping you," she laughed. "Go to work dressed as Batman and no one who sees you will have an ordinary day."
"If we did that all the time, ordinary would no longer be ordinary."
"But it would be exhausting, after awhile. You'd get tired of it and eventually, changing everything would BECOME ordinary. Ordinary is always lurking around the corner. Hard to escape it."
"If I dressed as Batman everyday, people would stop noticing."
"Even if you worn a different costume each day, it would become just another day. Extra-ordinary only happens once, or maybe twice, then it fades into the background.
"That could be why people just stop caring about a lot of things as they get older," he said. "Life has become bland and ordinary."
"That's also why why poverty, sexism, homophobia, violence and all the rest, just keep going. They are nothing new. Fifteen people murdered over the weekend, is old hat. Violence and death have become ordinary."
"That's horrible," he said.
"Yes. It is. No one cares how many lives are ruined by violence. How many women are destroyed because of it. Children as well. Poverty hurts all of us but people are used to hungry kids and broken women. There's no surprises left. We acclimate to things and situations quickly. When people try to be extra-ordinary, it's a full time job that cannot last. A lot of people wish they had extra-ordinary lives, until they have them. Ordinary can mean no drama, just living one day after the other. People used to do that all the time, but with today's social media, many feel that there's something wrong with them if they aren't happy everyday, or partying every night."
"We know some of those people."
She laughed. "We do indeed. There's nothing wrong with having fun. I love to have fun, but that can also become ordinary. Everything ends up in that little box and there's nothing wrong with that either."
"I really want ice cream," he said, grabbing her hand. "I want an extra-ordinary sundae. One with chocolate syrup, nuts, strawberries, a few slices of banana, piles of whip and chocolate wafers."
"If you ate that everyday you would long for a scoop of vanilla in a sugar cone."
"Probably," he agreed. "But not tonight."
"Then make it two," she snickered.
"Perfect."
"I think we just turned our ordinary night into something extra-ordinary."
Photo: the blowup
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