Flabbergasted

One of the goals of the adult transition center is to make the students more independent. They try to teach them things that they'll need to take care of themselves in the future. Like, they teach them how to go into stores and make purchases.

In practice that means that last Friday we went to the mall. 

The class of nine was broken up into three groups of three (a group each for me and the two instructional assistants). The students chose where they wanted to go. I got the group going to the farther mall. 

Why that mall? Sydney wanted to go to Steak Escape for lunch. 

I was warned by one of the IAs that the last time she took them there, the group didn't go into any stores. So, I was prepared to do a lot of walking and perhaps some of my own shopping. 

Surprisingly, as soon as we got into the mall, Eddy found a store he wanted to look in. And then another. And then another. 

Cool. We got there at nearly 11 AM, and we weren't due back to school until 2 PM. We had oodles of time. And neither Syd nor Flash had any desire to shop. 

(Flash is so nicknamed here because all he wanted to do was walk as fast as possible wherever he was going. I told him he could walk up and back outside the store while Eddy was inside.) 

And then Eddy found another store that he wanted to go in. And I just... 

It was Amazon Books.

Of course, I went in with him. I had to see this place. 

It's a bookstore. I gaped at it, looking at books and games and journals and Amazon devices. 

After we left, I vented to Syd. It was hard to express what I was feeling. I was feeling all sorts of feelings. Part of me thought it was cool. Part of me was amazed at the chutzpah of Amazon. Part of me felt like things had come full circle. 

There are other emotions. I haven't unpacked them all. 

Amazon Books. Am I the only one who's just *shakes head*?