Sometimes I think Cochrane just needs to accept its fate and realize that it’s never going to be the small town so many wish it would forever stay.
I think that if I were to open up a carwash, a bottle depot, another grocery store or even a barbershop, I’d be a rich man in no time, because this town needs as many services as it can get.
I finally managed to get into a carwash this past Saturday afternoon. I had been trying to wash my car for about a month (no joke), but not being someone who enjoys spending my time in a lineup, I avoided the carwash like the plague.
I should have also avoided the bottle depot and just donated my supply to a local sports team or something. I would have lost just over $30 in refunds, but saved so much of my weekend in exchange.
Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me again and again, and I guess I’m not as clever as I thought I was.
Tossing the last of my empty bottle bins into the back seat of my car, I drove over to the bottle depot praying to the good Lord above that at the very least there would be a parking spot so I could start unloading my empties, but alas, there was not, so I headed home with the undesirable plans to return later on for a second attempt.
You get this a lot in Cochrane…walking into the barbershop or grocery store and being faced with what seems like a strangely long lineup for such a ‘small town.’
Why is this? Well, maybe there are not enough services in Cochrane for its swelling population.
It’s not a bad thing for a town to be as busy as Cochrane currently is. It’s certainly much better than the other side of the spectrum. But it can also at times be frustrating to residents when they know that a simple trip to the carwash or grocery store can lead to an overly lengthy endeavour.
New infrastructure can’t go up fast enough in Cochrane to alleviate some of this congestion, and that upsets many in this community, understandably, but it’s inevitable.
There are a lot of small towns in Canada and Alberta…I don’t think Cochrane falls into this category anymore, and if it does, it won’t for much longer.
