I’ve got a family of five and I feed one more, which means, among other things, that we go through food like water. As a result, grocery shopping is less necessity and more self-preservation. Because, ultimately, being out of one specific food that one or more of the troops around here wants means trouble with a capital everything.
So, I end up at the grocery store several times each week. Yes, I try to do one big run during the week, but honestly, there are times that the storage space is limited, so I need to just watch what we have in the house.
Tonight, heading home after work, and after picking up Patrick from school, I stopped at Byerly’s to pick up a few quick items for the shrimp dinner I had planned. Now, because of my vast grocery shopping experience, there are few stores in my area that I don’t know, and by that, I mean that I can map out my route through the store before I even walk in.
So I made my way through Byerly’s…Rice pilaf, romaine, garlic, green onions…
There in the produce section, was a father (I’ll make the assumption here) and his daughter. She was probably two, settled in the seat in the cart, talking non-stop to her father, as kids tend to do at that age. Non-stop, that is, until she spotted me. I was still a good 10 feet away or more, grabbing a bag and a bunch of green onions, when she said to her dad, very loudly: “Aaaah! A big man with a beard! Aaaaah!” Honestly, I wasn’t really sure if she was scared or just joking, because the screams weren’t the loud, piercing screams that every two-year-old has. But still, I am, indeed, a big man, and do also have a beard. So one learns to tread with caution in these situations.
The dad laughed. I smiled and chuckled. She laughed. Then I laughed. I walked past them, heading to the garlic.
One thing that frequent grocery shoppers will know is that as you make your way through the store, it’s typically with the same people, or you cross paths with them frequently–they may go left when you go right, but still, it’s generally the same traffic flow, and those you enter with are usually the ones you leave with.
Butter, parmesan…So I ran into them again in the dairy section as I grabbed some parmesan. “Eek! Big man with a beard!” Giggle. I’d become a game. A large, anonymous game.
Olive oil, Baguette…Coming out of the aisle with the olive oil and heading toward the bread: “Eee! Big beard man!” She thought it was the funniest thing ever…Or at least in the previous 10 minutes.
I made it to the checkout lane–10 items or less–and shortly after, dad and daughter pulled up in the next lane over. I looked over and smiled. The girl laughed and pointed. The dad just smiled.
He was probably just glad this trip didn’t have her screaming through frozen foods. I’ve had those trips. They suck.
See you tomorrow.