There’s No Place Like 7-Eleven

Amongst my fellow snack seekers, I feel more at home than I ever have

Kristen Arnett
Human Parts

Photo by Smith Collection/Gado via Getty Images

Gas Pumps

My relationship with my family hasn’t been comfortable for years.

Part of reassessing “home” means wondering why, when I think of my family, I get stressed out; why it makes me want to go to a safe spot to consider comfort. In the wake of the election, like many others in my situation, I reassessed what it was I already knew about the people who raised me. What I had allowed to happen around me for the sake of comfort. I found I could not live with it anymore and could not bear the thought of supporting it.

I stopped showing up for family dinners. Stopped returning calls. Stopped being available. In return, this meant I needed to fill the void with the comfort and safety that I’d been previously lacking. I turned more often than not to the place that always took care of me, the place I always wanted to be whenever I was sad, whenever I was happy.

I went to 7-Eleven on Christmas Day, the first one I’d spent alone. I went there after I found out that I’d sold my first novel — I bought a bottle of champagne, and we toasted together in the store, me and the cashier. I found myself sharing more of my life — not just my time, but actual pieces of myself with the…

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Responses (10)

What are your thoughts?

This just made me regret my Medium subscription.

A story about the greatness of 7-Eleven stores. Thank you!!!

I went to 7-Eleven on Christmas Day, the first one I’d spent alone.

Totally get you there. The loneliness of my first Christmas here in Japan (and away from family) was alleviated by none other than my local 7-11.