Saturday Night Shopping

I don’t enjoy shopping. When I shop for clothes I’m never sure what looks good or what’s in style. Grocery shopping is just as bad since I don’t cook much and I’m never sure what to buy. I went grocery shopping by myself on Saturday night which makes things even worse. I inevitably run into people I know and end up saying things like, “Hi, former roommate, I’m glad you’re shopping with your wife while I buy frozen pizzas alone,” or, “Hi, current student, it sure looks like you’re having fun on your date. Can I squeeze by you? You’re standing in front of the pre-shredded cheese.”

This particular trip to the supermarket wasn’t so bad. I stopped there on my way home from a friend’s house and needed to use the bathroom. As I walked into the bathroom at Macy’s I was expecting a public restroom as clean as the ones at BYU, but was instantly disappointed when I walked into a tiled room that reeked of air freshener and other less-fresh odors. As I walked up to the sink to wash my hands I was startled by my appearance. You see, I have once again moved into an apartment where I am too tall to see the majority of my head in the bathroom mirror. I got a haircut on Friday morning, but hadn’t seen the top of my head since then and had forgotten that I’d gotten a haircut. It’s kind of startling to realize that your hair is shorter than expected while standing in a stinky public restroom.

My next moment of fright came from the reality of inflation. Easter is just down the road and so the grocery stores have started selling my favorite Easter candy – Cadbury Cream Eggs. I remember when I was a kid I could by five eggs for a dollar and I did (and then promptly ate too much and felt sick). Macy’s was selling the delicious chocolate eggs for 59 cents apiece. Wow, the changes that occur in 20 years. The British get to eat those delectable treats year round and we only get them for a few months and have to pay 59 cents for a shell of chocolate filled with sugary cream. It got worse. I turned down the frozen food aisle and glanced at the price of the generic brand frozen waffles. A box of waffles that I used to pay 89 cents for now costs $1.99. And that’s the generic brand!

My trip to the grocery store ended pleasantly enough. The checker and I briefly discussed the weather, whether or not I’d found everything alright, the kind of bag I wanted my groceries to be placed in, and how terrible it was that she had to work until midnight at which point I left with my items. When I got home I watched a rerun of The Office while eating a bowl of Reese’s Puffs that only cost me $2.50 (plus tax). All in all it was a successful trip and I now have milk for my cereal.