Shopping Secrets

We all have our little secrets, right? One of mine is about the time I was grocery shopping in an upscale grocery store where they not only have fruits and vegetables from all over the world, but they pride themselves on their customer service.

As I maneuvered my cart past the crowded deli area, I noticed an assistant manager in the aisle looking into people’s carts. “What’s up?” I asked him. “One of our customer’s carts has been misappropriated,” he sniffed at me. I then noticed a frowning woman down the aisle, peering into everyone’s carts.

“What an idiot,” I thought uncharitably. “Imagine making a fuss with the store management because you can’t find your cart. Haven’t we all misplaced our cart on occasion, or inadvertently started to put our items in the wrong cart and then realized our mistake? That happens all the time. Why not just resolve the matter yourself, for Pete’s sake, rather than involve the store management. Oh, well. That’s what makes the world go round.”

I continued on my way, finished my shopping, and checked out.

At home, as I took the items out of the bags, I noticed something funny. What bread was this? And what wine was this? Yes, you’ve got it. I was the guilty party who had taken that lady’s cart. Apparently, we both had bread, wine and one or two other things at the time I “misappropriated” her cart. I had happily added more items and never noticed my mistake.

But it is amazing to me to realize that not only did I take her cart, I CHECKED OUT her items. Yes, I put them on the conveyor belt in a mindless fashion, not even realizing at the time that those items were not mine. Now, that is scary.

And just think, the customer never found her cart. For all I know, she is still there now, looking for it. So that’s my little secret. It’s been a few years now, so I think it’s safe for me to tell it. Although I had a brain dead moment, I have continued to function moderately well for an additional thirty years. Does that make you feel better? Have you had those brain dead moments where you seriously questioned your competence? Personally, I choose to blame it on being such a high functioning individual….multi tasking and all that. But, sometimes, that multi tasking does bite you in the keister.