Instant Friends

Joanne agreed to be interviewed and immediately called out to a stranger, Barbara, to also participate. Barbara was on the way to an appointment at the Thundermist Health Center next to the market. But she didn’t hesitate to join. The two met on the spot and bonded over horoscopes, grocery shopping, and eye surgery.

Barbara (to the interviewer): Is she in cahoots with you? 

Joanne: No, I just met him, but I just met you too! I'm Joanne. 

Barbara: Hi, I'm Barbara. 

Joanne: Hi. That's my middle name. I'm just friendly; I always talk to everybody. She does, too. 

Barbara: Yeah, just met. This is a nice way to do it, too. Especially if you have a good attitude about seeing other people. 

Joanne: Yeah, that's it. I love meeting people. Well, I’m a patient over at Thundermist. And I heard about it and I came here because I like going to places. 

Barbara: A dear friend went and told me about it. She had some money left over on her card and she asked me to go pick up stuff because she had an operation on her foot. So I'm doing this for her and she said ‘get something for yourself too.' But I'm going to sign up for her cards.

Joanne: I heard about this market many, many years ago. But nowadays, nobody's buying fruit and vegetables in the store. 

Barbara: You can't afford it. It's out the window in the stores. Everything. 

Joanne: So it's better to get it at a farm. 

Barbara: And then stores try to go and make you believe that you're getting what you're expecting. If you go and look, it'll be the same amount, but it'll be less in the packaging. 

Joanne: And they touch everything. I mean, they touch—you know, I was at a grocery store by the bananas. And I said, ‘don’t you wear gloves?’ And a worker said, ‘no.’ Here at the farmers market, it’s fresher, and we get a chance to talk to people, too, about the product. I mean, I'm in my early 70s. 

Barbara: I'm 78. I'm pushing to 80. And I love coming out, meeting other people over here and talking with them. That's wonderful. 

Joanne: You must be the same sign. Are you a Taurus? 

Barbara: I'm a Taurus. 

Joanne: Oh my God. So am I. 

Barbara: May 11th. 

Joanne: April 27th! Anyways, I heard about the market when they said they had it. Every time I see an umbrella or if I see something, I go check it out. That’s the kind of person I am.

Barbara: And I heard it through the grapevines. But I never took advantage of it. I didn't know anything really about it until somebody else explained it more to me. And some of the ladies down below over there (she points towards the Farm Fresh workers) went and told me about how you could have your food stamps and double it. My goodness. That's even better. 

Joanne: I didn't bring my card today because I didn't want to wait in line. Because usually I wait in line and I can't stand it. We get a card from the state. I usually bring it, but I wait so long over there. I get so impatient waiting. I'll get there at quarter to three and I've got to wait. And I'm saying, well, ‘I'm missing out.’ And then a Farm Fresh worker said, 'well, you can always go pick out what you want and then come back.' And I said, 'yeah, then there'll be four or five people in front of me. Then I've got to wait again.' So I said, 'I'm using cash today.’ 

Barbara: Well, I've got to get going. I've got another appointment to go to. 

Joanne: Well, it's nice to meet you. We'll see you again. I’ll be here next week.

Barbara: I know the following week I can't, I gotta go to the doctor, I've got a cataract consultation. 

Joanne: Oh I already had the surgery. 

Barbara: Really? Is that okay? 

Joanne: It was a piece of cake. I was so afraid.

Barbara: But I've heard that it's not bad at all, it's the eye drops that are worse. 

Joanne: Yeah, the eye drops. Afterwards, it's the after effect. Matter of fact, I have to make an appointment and go there too because they've been changing doctors, they have two or three people. They've been just moving around too much over there. 

Barbara: I'm gonna have to take out a loan to be able to do it

Joanne: Well, you have insurance.

Barbara: Yeah, but it's not going to pay everything; I've got a three hundred dollars copay that I have to pay for each eye. Well, bye, have a nice day. 

Joanne: That's unusual; I don't meet a lot of Taurus people. I used to have my own business many years ago; I had a cleaning business. I still do some cleaning here and there, but I'm just very outgoing. Now that I'm retired, I want to meet more people my own age. I won't go to the senior center here. I'm not too crazy about it. 

I’ve been coming here for three years. I didn't even know about it at first. I was kind of afraid to come over here, and then I said, 'oh, piece of cake.' I know regular people, so you know, I just say hi to everybody.