A Moment in Time

Typical, hectic start of the weekend.  An errand list that could easily fill two weeks but had to be squeezed into one precious morning chunk of Saturday morning. Take a deep breath and go! And joy of joys, my husband G decided to go on the errand journey with me!  This really was a very good thing.  After thirty three years of marriage I can honestly say that spending time with G, even doing mundane errands, was fun!  I know, I know, corny but quite true.  We laugh, we talk, and even though our shopping styles are quite different, we manage. First stop, grocery store. I like to walk slowly up and down each aisle, delighting in finding new and oh so improved products that tempt me with their bold marketing banners and sincere promises of health, ever lasting youth, boundless energy, major antioxidants, and then there is the super-duper spray in a bottle stuff that guarantees a sparkling kitchen with absolutely, positively no effort required. Hmmm . . . Maybe forget that last one.  Sparkling kitchens and I are just not that well acquainted and even I, who lives for trying new things, am skeptical. Anyway, I know I need to get a life but I do have fun contemplating what new products the advertising gurus have conspired to get into my shopping cart.

G on the other hand, is a power shopper.  He knows what he wants and where the items live.  These said items get thrown in the cart and he is in the check out lane and out the door before I can sample a single piece of fancy cheese on a multi-grain wheat cracker all held together with a cute little toothpick and handed to me on a napkin by a very smiley person.

But these differences aside, we still manage to get what we need. And in between my slow meandering and his crazed pace there is definitely eye rolling and good natured teasing but always laughter, and you know, you just have to take your fun where you can find it!

So, here we were on a Saturday afternoon in a big box store doing our grocery shopping dance.  Finally, we both agreed it was time to check out.  He was a little grumpy, I had meandered a bit too much, but it was all good. As we put our items on the conveyer belt, G casually asked the cashier if she was having a good day. This is just part of who he is, this husband of mine.  As much as he likes to zoom through the aisles at breakneck speed, he also immensely enjoys talking to people and is known to strike up casual conversations just about anywhere with anyone. Including cashiers at a check out lane.

We expected a simple answer back, something along the lines of  “I’m fine, how are you today?” Well, instead we got an earful.  The cashier looked up at G and it almost looked like her eyes were filling with tears.  She told us that last night her teenage daughter announced that she could not stand the sound of her mother’s voice.  That mother being our cashier.  She went on to tell us that it broke her heart, how could her daughter say that to her, she doesn’t even know where it came from, and she doesn’t know if she is furious or just very sad but she thinks she might be both.  Wow.  Whoa.  What do we do?  G sort of hemmed and hawed but then he came through big time.  With a gentle tone he assured her that teenagers can get like that sometimes and she should try not to take it to heart.  We think her voice sounds just fine! Her eyes softened a bit and she smiled. Back to briskly back to bagging our groceries.  The moment was over.  She needed to vent, we needed paper towels, granola bars, cereal, milk and frozen pizzas. It all worked out. I knew there was a reason that I like spending time with this guy . . .