THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 28, 1996 TAG: 9604260181
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: Medium: 79 lines
Monday, April 15
1:15 p.m. - A pediatrician's office near Haygood.
A young woman comes in carrying her baby in an infant seat.
She puts the child, still in its seat, on the chair directly in front of her and then pulls out a calculator and what appears to be several tax forms.
As she starts crunching numbers, the baby begins to fuss. She sticks her foot out and gently rocks the infant's carrier back and forth, trying to soothe the youngster.
Extending her foot to and fro, she continues to rock the baby while calculating numbers and recording them on the tax form in her lap.
Finally, the youngster begins to create a real fuss and mom puts aside her calculator and tax forms and gently lifts the baby. She cradles him in her arms and digs a bottle out of the diaper bag. As she feeds the now-quiet baby, she stares longingly at the half-finished tax forms.
- Lori A. Denney
Wednesday, April 17
2 p.m. - Seapines Post Office.
A customer is mailing one of those brown padded mailing envelopes. The mail clerk weighs the plump package and asks whether it should be sent first class or third. The difference in postage is about $1.50.
``First class,'' says the customer, ``and I'd like to buy another mailing bag too, please.''
``If you are going to send your mail first class,'' the clerk answers, ``the post office will give you a mailing box.''
``I didn't know that,'' the customer says, surprised.
The clerk pulls out a collapsed red, white and blue box with Priority Mail across the front and hands it across the counter.
``By the time you pay for the padded envelope, you'll be spending almost enough to send the package first class anyway,'' the clerk adds. ``And the box is self-sealing too!''
- Mary Reid Barrow
Thursday, April 18
8:16 a.m. - Kempsville Road at Princess Anne Road.
T here is no mistaking the look, even without a bar of blue-and-red lights bolted to the roof.
Dark-blue, full-size Chevrolet Caprice. Black-sidewall tires. No chrome trim. It screams ``unmarked police car'' to the morning rush-hour traffic.
The vanity license plate, however tells a different story: ``NOTAKOP.''
- Matthew Bowers
Monday, April 22
9 a.m. - Lord Dunmore Drive in Fairfield.
A smiling, well-dressed woman wheels a blue mini-van through the residential neighborhood. With all windows down, she is obviously enjoying the warm spring morning. Beside her in the right front seat a child who appears to be about 3 years old is also enjoying the fresh air in a manner that causes several passing drivers to shake their heads.
Unrestrained, the entire upper part of the child's body hangs from the car window. The driver pulls out onto Princess Anne Road, then turns into a nearby parking lot. She stops the car, helps the youngster out and cautiously walks him across the parking lot, into the door of a pre-school program that meets there.
- Jo-Ann Clegg
1:50 p.m. - Stop light at Independence Boulevard at Bonney Road.
T he northbound traffic light is red. A white pickup truck pulls halfway from the entrance of a corner fast food restaurant and into the right hand turn lane, cutting off a line of cars signaling for a turn.
Traffic in the lane comes to a halt as the 40ish driver takes a long sip on an orange drink. Traffic, meanwhile, backs up behind his truck 15-to-20 cars deep.
At last the light changes and the pickup noses into the line of through traffic. A sign on its door panel reads, ``Fischbach & Moore, Traffic Systems.''
- Bill Reed by CNB