Tuesday, January 20, 2015

The Honest Truth: Blueberries EVERYWHERE!

Oh, man! 
Yesterday I went to Walmart with three separate lists.
You see, we have a school credit card to Walmart 
and in an effort to be as cost-effective as possible, 
we buy a lot of art supplies there.
So, that was one list. 
The art department's supply list.

Well, since we have the one card and write purchase orders
for each department within the school,
I told a colleague that I would also pick up his supplies while I was there.
So, that was the second list.
The CAST class' supply list.
(I have no idea what CAST stands for, but it is a student-led leadership class.)

And so, I figured while I am there, might as well get our personal groceries for the week.
Why not, right!?
So, that was the third list.
Our personal grocery list for the week.

As you can imagine, my cart was filled to the brim at the end of my hour-long
shopping trip. I had, of course, organized my route in Walmart
based on list order and location of the store.
(I have learned the hard way that Walmart trips like these 
require mental and logistical preparation.)
I saved our personal list for last, mainly because the groceries are in a separate part of the store
and I didn't want our food to get crushed by art supplies.

I wish I could have taken a picture of my cart, y'all!
I had paint cans on the shelf below the cart and
I had dowel rods sticking out from the side.
I was able to balance everything just right, or so I thought,
and was heading to the checkout when I realized 
I had forgotten GG's beloved Enjoy Life cookies 
(they are allergy-free, and truly her only treat). 
So, I turned my massive cart around and headed for the cookies.
As I was trekking along, I saw the cookies out of the corner of my eye
and tried to turn my load a little too quickly.

I lost a cucumber and the blueberries.

Cucumber… no big deal. 
It was wrapped and just rolled.

Blueberries… BIG FREAKING DEAL.
The plastic container, and may I add that it was the big plastic container, 
you know with like double the servings as the little guy, busted wide open and 
BLUEBERRIES WENT EVERYWHERE!

Y'all, I was in the intersection of COOKIES, CHIPS, and CLEANING SUPPLIES!
It's not like I was in the office supply aisle that hardly anyone frequents.
Dude, I was smack dab in the middle of Walmart's busiest aisles.
I stood there for a second and made eye contact with the sweet lady 
who had safely made her way to the cookies.

She looked at me and said, "Oh, my! Blueberries everywhere!"

We both nervously laughed and I just bent over to pick them up one by one.
She was so sweet and went to the cleaning supply aisle (across from the cookies)
to get a broom. It still had the cardboard on the bottom 
but it worked in shoveling the blueberries into a concentrated pile.
So, there we were blocking the busiest intersection with me bending over to grab each 
blueberry by hand and her sweeping with a cardboard covered broom.

Then a man with a cane walked up.
Oh, how I felt SOO bad.
And, then I felt worse as he bent over to help me pick up each blueberry.
I asked him politely not to help, but he insisted.

Then a family with two little girls came up. 
I am sure my face was the deepest shade of red at this point.
And, would you know,
they told their little girls to come help me with the blueberries.
So, now I had a sweet lady with a cardboard covered broom,
and man with a cane, and two energetic toddler girls helping 
clean up my blueberry spill.

Everyone was so gracious.
We threw away the blueberries, hung up the broom,
and all went on our way.
But, I wish I could have gotten each of their names and addresses
to write them a thank you note.



No comments: