What? Not Another Frozen Yogurt Shop!

Friday evening I had to go into town. As I've mentioned, I have an that I only use for emergencies, so since it's always off--rather than give out that number, I set call forwarding when I plan to use it. Last Sunday I set call forwarding and mistakenly thought I had disengaged it on Monday. Since I rarely use the cell phone, I never have set up a password to check voicemail remotely. So today I noticed there were messages, but not enough signal to pick them up, so my only option was to go into town and check them where the signal is good. I was happy to learn while in town that once I accessed the settings, I discovered that the previous owner had indeed set a voicemail password, and now that I know what it is I turned on the feature, and I'm good to go and will no longer need to depend on a signal to check my voicemail. A minor technological inconvenience has happily been resolved, but I digress, as usual.

I did not mind going into town Friday night. I had nothing better to do, and when I leave the house, there's always a chance something might spark another blog post. I never know who I will meet or what conversation I might have. Just that afternoon while at I ran into a lady with a dog, and she escorted me home and told me about her vision of the afterlife. It was beautiful to see her radiant blue eyes light up.

While in town I went by The Yogurt Shoppe to sample the new flavors. It was disco night, and it was so feel-good that the music moved right through me, and I couldn't help but tap my feet. The desire to dance was intense, but I did not feel it appropriate to dance with the boogie and get down in public, so I am embarrassed to say I went into the bathroom, locked the door, and let loose like I was in a discotheque.

After a few yogurt samples, I went outside and sat on the bench and continued tapping my feet and moving my legs to the music. Funny thing is my ancient Kyocera phone model is Party Animal. I held it in my hand and tapped it against my other hand to the music, feeling like a party animal myself.

While there, I started talking to a woman about Toppings, the new yogurt shop that opened on Via de la Paz. I had checked it out myself the night before and sampled a few flavors. In contrasting it to The Yogurt Shoppe, I had come to the conclusion that though the variety is larger, the quality isn't as good, and the yogurt is more expensive. Also, Toppings doesn't have the heart that The Yogurt Shoppe has nor does it have Correne, the cool manager.

The Yogurt Shoppe has a community feeling to it. To me it's the difference between the old Hotdog Show and Der Wienerschnitzel. I just now read the last Hotdog Show closed in August, 2011. I was happy to discover it years before and paid a visit for lunch. Unless you lived here between the 50's and the 70's, it's impossible to understand the full impact of what the Hotdog Show meant to this community. However, if you grew up somewhere else, I am sure you had your hang-outs that are no longer there. It's like losing an old friend who brought out the best in you.

Later I went by Toppings to compare the size of the crowd. It was packed while The Yogurt Shoppe had a moderate amount of customers. Is this how it will continue to be or was Toppings full of people because it just opened, and folks want to check it out? I was bothered by the fact that Toppings had no sign up telling the prices, so it's all very mysterious. It seems like it might have opened before being fully finished as the flavors are written in chalk directly on the wall over the yogurt dispensers which is out of sync with the clean design. Perhaps a menu sign is forthcoming. I hope so, because it is confusing.

I don't know what the fate of The Yogurt Shoppe will be. Perhaps it can co-exist with Toppings and do fine, and each place can attract customers that resonate with their respective culture. Those that prefer intimacy and community-feel will go to The Yogurt Shoppe, and those who don't can go to Toppings. My hope is that The Yogurt Shoppe will not compromise to compete, but continue to stand by its original vision. If can remain with all the competing restaurants around, I don't see why The Yogurt Shoppe can't too.