Day 195

Yesterday I went to the grocery store. Before I left I made a conscious decision to pay attention and see what I could learn from my experience.

I felt agitated before I ever left. I had a lot of things to do and I wanted to get my groceries and get home as quickly as possible. As I tried to make my way down the first aisle, I noticed a young man talking on a cell phone while he carelessly tried to maneuver his cart. It was difficult to get around him. I could hear my inner gremlins muttering, "For God's sake, what is wrong with this kid? Shop or talk: You obviously can't do both."

As I rounded the corner, I saw another person, a middle aged woman deep in conversation with someone on the other end of her wireless device. She was stopped directly in front of the tomatoes. What did I need? Tomatoes, of course. I managed to nudge my way in, an unwilling witness to one small drama pinging off a cell phone tower. The rest of my shopping experience was punctuated by an internal rant that started with: "What is the world coming to?" and ended with, "Have we all lost our minds?"

By the time I got to the checkout I had worked myself up into a bit of a frenzy. This was one of those grocery stores where you sack your own things. The man in front of me was about 80 years old. He had two half gallon cartons of ice cream. I found this endearing until he starting sacking them. He put each one in, not one, but two paper sacks. Then he put each one in a separate plastic bag. He did all of this at a snails pace while I stood there like an idiot waiting to bag my own things. It wasn't so much his slowness that bothered me. It was his lack of regard for me (not to mention the environment).

By the time I reached my car I was pissed off. I considered various coping strategies. I could sit in the car and eat everything I just purchased. Damn, why had I bought so many vegetables? I could take a few deep breaths. Okay, I tried that, better, but not enough. I needed a day off, or even just an afternoon off.

I went home and asked Bill to go out to lunch with me. We went to this Brewery where they serve bar food and play 70's rock at just the right volume. We ate and talked and talked and ate. I didn't think about the papers that needed to be graded or my son's upcoming move or the old man in the grocery store. It was just what I needed.

Maybe next time I'll offer to help the old guy. After all, a man with that much ice cream can't be all bad.