This is not a post that will make you cry- not my intention at all. Actually, itâs about how silly I can be when I talk about something totally random with the lady at the check out counter. Itâs actually inspired by a visit to a supermarket where I was doing some grocery shopping. I had just finished teaching my classes and had to buy a few things before heading back to my apartment. I donât cook much- I live alone and although I have a few of those days where I act like Iâm competing in âHellâs Kitchenâ, most of the time I am very aware of my limitations. Donât get me wrong, I can cook- just not all the time. Thereâs a lack of consistency when it comes to the quality of my cooking that can be quite discouraging. But most of the time, it is the lack of a companion, the idea of âa meal for oneâ that makes me settle for a delivery pizza. And generally, Iâm ok with it. I have my best friend, my MacBook Pro, that keeps me entertained, or a bunch of papers to grade, a kind of âside orderâ to my pizza. So, back to the supermarket. I like Pepsi- I realize itâs not healthy, but sometimes I like to watch some TV and drink pepsi with a pizza. So, I bought lots of snacks- I had none at home- cookies, brownies, cheese sticks, and a 24-mini pepsi can pack. I got to the check-out and there was a lovely lady who asked, âHello, you having a good day?â I said, âyep, thanks!â We had a bit of a chat as I packed my groceries, she asked, âYouâre a student at the university nearby?â âNo, Iâm a professor,â (always makes my day of course to be mistaken for a student). âOh, nice!â She replied, âSo, you live on campus? Youâre married?â I shook my head. She gave me one of those slightly sympathetic looks. It was a look that invited further conversation, even comfort if I needed to vent. âSo, it must get a bit lonely?â I pointed to the pack of pepsi and said, Â âYea, and thatâs what happens when youâre alone! You give yourself an excuse to drink pepsiâ and I laughed. Iâm not exactly sure till now what the connection between loneliness and drinking pepsi is- as a matter of fact, to me, there is no connection. If a student wrote an essay and included such a random piece of information, Iâd find myself saying, âStay on topic!â âGo back to your thesis statement, does this point relate to your main argument?â So, what does pepsi have to do with loneliness? Well, I thought about it and Iâve come to a possible conclusion- one that I smiled about all the way back to my car. Sometimes we need people to know weâre alone for a day. It doesnât mean weâre desperate or sad or need anyone. We just want someone to know our status- I guess itâs like updating facebook (which I donât really do), but telling people youâre alone for the day, and doing it casually, wonât actually change your day. But it gives you a sense of control- you can laugh about it, you can joke about it, you can state it, you can embrace it, you can indulge in it. It is no longer the objective âlonelinessâ where you have to sit at home and cry and pine for companionship. No, itâs the kind of loneliness that you can laugh about- because, yes youâre alone, but no, youâre not lost because of your loneliness. We are often told how to feel about things. If youâre on your own, you must be very unhappy. Well, yes, Iâm sometimes bored, but Iâm not necessarily unhappy. Itâs funny how the most random of statements could have so much meaning. Loneliness is whatever it means to you. There is no category, no label for âlonely people.â And this knowledge is quite empowering- with it, you get to define who you are, and how you feel. If all loneliness means to me is that from time to time Iâm going to drink pepsi and watch TV and nothing more than that- then it is what it is. It is what I want it to be, what I choose to call it, how I choose to define it. Â It is my story, after all.