Rolling along

 

We went to a local grocery store that we don't typically visit. I mention this to point out that we weren't familiar with how things worked.

Now you might be thinking, "It's a grocery store! What do you mean 'how things work'?"

Well, let me tell you.

The first thing is, we were supposed to rent a shopping cart for a quarter.  I was with our oldest daughter and we confidently figured we could handle the couple of items we were going in to pick up, so we nixed the cart idea.

But when we got inside, we were pretty excited about the prices and the appearance of the fruits & veggies, so we started piling things into our arms and talking between us about the rent-a-cart-for-a-quarter concept; a nice lady standing next to us looked at my daughter with compassion (or was it pity?) and offered her a quarter. 

Neither of us wanted to explain that it wasn't so much our poverty, as  our ignorance, that created our situation, so with fruits and veggies overflowing, she graciously declined the offer.

Naturally, my over-confidence in my ability to carry so much resulted in quite the balancing act, predictably resulting in me dumping an entire pint of blueberries all over the floor.

As the blueberries went rolling across the ENTIRE aisle, I stood there exposed to other shoppers' stares. They blankly looked on, rightly knowing there was nothing they could do. When my shock subsided, we got someone from the store for a clean-up.

In the meantime, though, our helpful daughter was in the process of solving her own problem, exiting the scene as she yelled to me, "I'll get a box!"

That's the other thing. You need to have a box to carry your groceries out of the store.  I'll now admit, it helps if you have a cart.

Anyway, we made quite the scene. Thankfully, as often seems to happen when we are together, our laughter far exceeded what should have been a truly awful, embarrassing moment.

And as if the in-store incident wasn't enough, as we reached our car, I  dropped the bananas, splitting them open on the black top next to my car door. I just stood there, mouth agape, unblinking, unbelieving.

Then, getting into the car, we saw a man coming out of the store who offered his cart to someone going in, apparently gifting his pre-paid shopping cart to a stranger.

We looked at each other and jokingly exclaimed, "That's how you do it!  You just wait for someone to come out and offer you their cart!"

Admittedly, our little trip to the store wasn't entirely successful, what with the rolling blueberries and the banana-dropping, but we sure learned a life lesson:

When you have too much piled on you (often of your own making) and things seem to be spilling over everywhere, sometimes you just have to smile in the midst of the chaos, knowing that the next time you will certainly be more prepared.  

Oh, and it might be a good idea to carry some change on you as well!

Janet Cassidy
Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

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