All Lit Up

I ventured down the jagged brick sidewalk this week to appease my ever-growling stomach and discovered a pleasant surprise.

The lights are up in Alexandria.

The quaint strip of shops and cafes (and the occasional outlet store) is coming alive in the name of holiday shopping and Christmas spirit.  Unlike what one instructor once assumed about our office location, this is nothing like Detroit, or external perceptions of Detroit, and in winter months is abuzz with cute moms and nannies and out-of-towners looking for a patterned dish, marble paperweight, flirtatious cocktail dress or religious children's book.  It's totally adorable.

The lights were being tested in the trees while kind-hearted volunteers hung wreaths on the lampposts.

Or?

Were those volunteers?  Dressed in orange jackets and orange caps?  Being watched by sheriffs?  Or wardens?  With the word PRISONER in bold on their backs?

I'd lie if I didn't do a double take and think, prisoners? Really?

Then I remembered the holiday spirit.  I mean, these guys probably get out on good behavior.  They get to see the world that for whatever reason they have been forced to temporarily give up.  They probably are seeing more women than in the past many months (which is probably awesome if they're into ladies), especially given all the moms and nannies out right now.  They are smiling and appear happy to any bypasser.

Best of all, they're bringing some cheer.

I shook my head at myself for having even the slightest negative reaction and kept walking along, Christmas songs now in my head, smiling back at each of the men in orange and their guardians as I passed.  I hope they get to have some sort of Christmas.  Even if they did something awful to get locked up.  Everyone deserves a few moments each winter to feel jolly and warm. 

Either way, I'm excited for all the decorations to make my colder and colder lunchbreaks all that more cheerful