GROCERY STORE ENTERTAINMENT

Usually I do my grocery shopping in one of two stores: Walmart or the neighborhood "market" Harris Teeter. The former is saved for days when I need to buy a lot and the latter for when I need just a few things to get through the weekend. Yesterday I chose Harris Teeter because it was Thursday (5% off for seniors) and because they had some good specials on. Shopping there is always an interesting experience.

This particular store is set right in the middle of the Hillsboro Village section of Nashville. It's an older "up and coming" neighborhood filled with all sorts of people. There are the elderly who have lived there for years, but more and more young-to-middle aged professionals are moving in, fixing up the houses (which were built in the early 1900's), and settling in. We live in between this area and Green Hills, a more affluent, established neighborhood that is about 30 years newer than the Hillsboro section. So shopping at this grocery store can be quite interesting if I'm in the proper frame of mind, and yesterday I was.

First thing I ran into were three college students blocking the entrance as several of us shoppers tried to enter. They were giggling over which oranges to pick out. Finally, they became aware of others and moved apologetically out of the way. They could have been students from Vanderbilt, Belmont, or Lipscomb, all of which are close by. And then there was the aging hippy woman with long gray hair who almost ran me down as I emerged from an aisle.

Then I really drew attention to myself (the kind you don't want!) when I knocked off a large bottle of crangrape juice. The top came off and that purple liquid squirted everywhere! So I reported it to the management and offered to pay, but they refused to let me.

As I was walking through the dairy department, a woman who was drawing the attention of all of us, especially the men, sauntered by. She was wearing white cowboy boots, extremely short denim shorts, a little yellow top that didn't quite reach the top of the shorts and a tight yellow and white polka dot sweater stretched over that. To top it off, she had on a pert little man's hat on her head. (I couldn't help but think of Stacy and Clinton on What Not to Wear and what a ball they would have with this one). I really got tickled at an elderly man who did a double take as she passed him. Then two men who worked at the store were laughing and talking about "looking only" as I went by them.

I finally made it to the checkout lane without spilling anything else and there was a basket full of groceries blocking the way. The cashier said, "I don't know where that lady went." And after a little wait, while I was wondering who could be so inconsiderate, here came cowboy boots, apologizing profusely, with an item she had forgotten. I just smiled and said I wasn't in a hurry. And I wasn't. Besides, I knew I would get 5% off whereas she wouldn't.

Shopping at Walmart is not nearly as much fun!!