Northline Walking Blog #3

As many of my fellow students probably did, I took a walk to the Little Nugget, aka home of the Awful Awful hamburger. When Allison went to the Little Nugget with Penny, she left the vacuum office on Second and walked from there. Since I was close, I walked past the Nugget and ventured along the river for a while, and then headed from Second Street up to the Nugget again. I couldn’t stomach a burger of my own at the time, but the memories I have of eating there definitely sufficed. It’s hard to forget a meal like an Awful Awful.

                I tried to focus on Allison’s friendship with Penny during my walk to the Nugget. Penny was a guiding force in Allison’s life in Reno. Penny was very encouraging toward Allison—she was always complimenting her on her voice and sales abilities, telling her she was smart enough to go to college, taking her around to her favorite places in town, and nudging her to open up about her life experiences. Penny was often the catalyst to Allison’s stories—the audience learned quite a bit about Allison through her conversations with Penny. I think this was because of Penny’s soft approach to her questions; she made it clear to Allison that she didn’t have to talk about things if she didn’t want to, and was very non-judgmental when Allison did decide to open up. During their conversation at the Nugget, the audience learns of Penny’s problems with her husband, and Allison tells Penny about her first boyfriend Roger. What is perhaps most significant about this conversation, though, is that Allison brings up Paul Newman in regards to her definition of love. This is the first time Allison brings Newman up in conversation with anyone other than her mom. She says “Love seems nice…like in the movies, like with Paul Newman” (122). This is extremely important because Newman is such a driving force in Allison’s life—her revelation of him shows that she trusts Penny, perhaps more than anyone else in her life.

                This led me to think about the importance of having solid relationships in our lives. I love having girl talk over an Awful Awful, although with my friends it’s more like a coffee. There is something so satisfying about sharing yourself with people you love and trust, and having them share things with you. I think Allison and Penny developed a bond like this, even if they didn’t tell each other everything. Allison’s experience in Reno greatly benefitted from knowing Penny for this reason. Penny was a reminder that even though Allison had gone through difficult experiences, she didn’t have to be ashamed of them. 

Link to a map of where I walked:

file:///C:/Users/Kyla/Pictures/Walking%20Blog/Wingfield%20Park%20to%20233%20N%20Virginia%20St,%20Reno,%20NV%2089501%20-%20Google%20Maps.htm