I Should Have Stayed Home

As someone with a flexible schedule I enjoy the luxury of not having to shop when the majority of nine-to fivers have to.  Not that I like to shop at anytime, but I really hate going into any store when they are busy.  All this being said I sometimes have to venture out into the world in the height of shopping frenzy period.  Take today.  Carter and her friend had a trip to the mall to look for dresses, see a movie and go to dinner planned.  Hooray to have a child old enough to do these things on her own, except for getting there.

I almost had to look at the calendar as we neared the mall to see if I had perhaps slept for two months and woke up at Christmas time.  The traffic was insane with cars lined up to make a left turn into the already full parking lot.  Thank goodness the two girls in my car were flexible about where I was going to drop them off.

On my way home from my drive through moments at the mall I had to stop at Harris Teeter.  Now I normally would never venture into the grocery on Saturday afternoon, but Russ had found two recipes in the New York Times he wanted for dinner and it had been a few days since I had actually cooked him any food.  So into the store for spring onions and fresh ginger I went.

I think that parents of young children now use the Harris Teeter near the mall as a substitute for Chuky Cheese.  There must have been at least a dozen toddlers running free in the store, screaming and crying some in laughter but most in need of a nap.  One mother who was pushing one of those extra long carts that looks more like a car with two steering wheels in the kid basket part was holding up all aisle traffic because her not so darling two year old child was holding the front of the basket and walking backwards.  Well she really wasn’t walking, more like she was standing there as her mother spoke in her I-must-be-on-medication-sing-songy-I-want-you-to-like-me-voice hardly attempting to get her child to keep moving as dozens of shopper’s cart ground to a halt around her.

You can imagine that in my head I was screaming, “Put Your GD kid that damn car/shopping cart and push her around like the rest of the universe.”  But no, I stood patiently as she coaxed the child to take each small step even though at any moment she could have run her over.

Once I broke free of that gridlock I went to the checkout.  I purposely picked a line without children.  The young couple in front of me had a full basket with lots of beer and I was sure they would hurry along so they could get home to pop one of those cold ones open.  WRONG!  Two perfectly capable twenty somethings stood and watched the checkout clerk ring every item up and then watched as the clerk packed their bags.  Only after he had refilled their cart with their grocery’s now in bags, and not reusable ones, did they think to pull out their credit card and finish the transaction, which they could have at least done while he was bagging.  What I really wanted to scream is, “You both have two perfectly good GD arms.  At least help pack your own groceries.  They don’t get more valuable if someone else does the work.”   But no, I stood there making mental note of what these people look like so I can never get behind them in line again.

I know my blood pressure went up and it is all my fault.  I know perfectly well to stay locked in my own little quiet home on weekends when all the world is out doing their business, but really, full parking lots and crowded stores are one thing, but laziness in minding your kids and packing your groceries is a first world problem that can be solved!