{"id":93,"date":"2007-01-02T11:46:34","date_gmt":"2007-01-02T19:46:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/2007\/01\/a-country-mouse-at-an-llli-conference\/"},"modified":"2007-01-02T11:46:59","modified_gmt":"2007-01-02T19:46:59","slug":"a-country-mouse-at-an-llli-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/2007\/01\/a-country-mouse-at-an-llli-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"A Country Mouse at an LLLI Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"

Written for LLL US Western Division\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s<\/em> Connections, in response to hearing criticism about conference goers who skipped sessions so they could go shopping. 1999.
\n<\/em>
\nTraveling to the LLLI Conference in Chicago in 1995, I was a country mouse visiting the big city. I was living in a small, remote Alaskan town and had been away from bookstores, malls, museums, and coffeehouses for six months. I was anxious to feed my deprived soul.<\/p>\n

I visited The Art Institute of Chicago twice, browsed the hotel gift shops multiple times, and then bought Bulls jerseys and hats at O\u00e2\u20ac\u2122Hare Airport. I was a woman possessed. You may notice some country mice at the LLLI Conference in Chicago this summer in 1999. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll be the ones coming in the front lobby doors with bulging bags and beaming faces.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I found some Birkies in my size!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll say. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153In magenta! I bought three pairs!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Or, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I got birthday presents for my husband for the next two years!\u00e2\u20ac\u009d For you city mice who don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t understand this, here are some descriptions of typical country mouse behaviors.<\/p>\n

Country mice like to \u00e2\u20ac\u0153power shop.<\/strong>\u00e2\u20ac\u009d They want to buy great quantities of things they need (and have been dreaming about) in small amounts of time. You\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll spot the power shopper sweeping up ten T-shirt, 20 pairs of socks, and three sweatshirts at the GAP. Or she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll purchase 20 birthday cards at Hallmark. She most likely is also shopping for her friends, relatives, and neighbor country mice.<\/p>\n

Country mice skip sessions to find special bargains.<\/strong> City mice will have to trust their country cousins that they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re attending the sessions that are important to them. We do lots of virtual shopping via catalogue and online sites, but when you\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re a country mouse, the thrill of actually touching merchandise before you buy is tremendous!<\/p>\n

Country mice love specialty stores<\/strong>. In remote towns, you may see many items all housed together in one large store. However, specialty shops with, say, just crafts made by local Native Americans, products with a berry motif, or items just for cats are only found in big cities. And it’s not just the purchasing that’s fun. It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s the aesthetic arrangements, handling the merchandise, and smelling the unusual aromas.<\/p>\n

Country mice love big airports. <\/strong>Airport shops have samples of many of the big-store shopping of an entire state or region. The bookshops, computer stores,and local craft and food emporia will pull in a country mouse every time!<\/p>\n

Country mice love to linger.<\/strong> Are you going to a Kinko\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s near the hotel to make copies for a conference session? The country mouse in your party will want to cruise the aisles for stationery items she\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s only dreamed about in her small grocery\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s school supplies corner. Be prepared for this detour.<\/p>\n

Now I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m a city mouse again. I can drive to Barnes & Noble and Borders, large art and science museums, multiple Hallmark stores, and three large movie cineplexes all within 20 minutes. Oh, I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll probably still visit The Art Institute several times this summer, but this time I will leave off the power shopping. But I remember how it felt to be a country mouse yearning for some big-city amenities. Help out and welcome the women visiting from small towns at your next LLLI Conference. Buy them an espresso, suggest an exotic restaurant for dinner, and point out the bookstores. They\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ll love it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Written for LLL US Western Division\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Connections, in response to hearing criticism about conference goers who skipped sessions so they could go shopping. 1999. Traveling to the LLLI Conference in Chicago in 1995, I was a country mouse visiting the big city. I was living in a small, remote Alaskan town and had been away […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-la-leche-league"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kathygrossman.com\/writing\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}