dd, grocery store edition

I.love.grocery.stores.

Always have, and I hope I always will.

Maybe it's the familiarity, and the way that no matter what grocery store you go to, you'll always find the peanut butter next to the cereals or the jell-o and pudding next to the cake mixes. Or maybe it's because I have a high chance of seeing an old man shuffling along with a cart.

Know what's tricky to find, though? Really random things like white distilled vinegar (in the salad dressing aisle) or sun dried tomatoes in oil (always in a hidden place amongst the veggies).

Grocery stores are more important than you think. Everybody needs groceries, and there are only a select few options to go for said groceries. I feel like grocery stores bring us together. In extremely general terms, grocery stores = global unity.

Buying food and other necessities can also provide some excitement: there are hazards all around! Sometimes those individuals who are in the electric cart aren't the safest of drivers. People have gigantic baskets that they're pushing around come out of nowhere when you're turning a corner. Don't forget all those traffic jams in those barely-wide-enough-for-two-cart-aisles!

I've decided that grocery stores are the absolute best places for people watching. You never know what you're going to see. For example, tonight, as I was getting what I needed in my sweats and sweatshirt (because that's how we do it in America), I amused myself by making up life situations for those around me. Here are some scenarios:

1. Overheard one guy say on his phone, "Are you done because you're wasting my minutes." I think he was talking to his ex-girlfriend.
2. Guy in his upper 20's with an Asian girl (speaking an Asian language to her). I think he went on a mission to an Asian country and was one of those who marries a girl from where he served.
3. Middle-aged woman with grocery list, and not much in her cart. I think that she's an empty-nester and just doesn't know how to adjust to cooking for two again.

I could go on and on...about the unspoken check-out line rules, bagging etiquette, people's fervent feelings towards certain stores, etc. but I won't.

I'll just end with quite possibly the best part: the sound of scanning an item and, of course, cash registers.