I had to go to the store this morning (guess which store? Yep, the Wally World!) to get some eyelashes for Zoey. Apparently, since the last competition, hers had gotten twisted, or something, and they were a mess. Hence, trip to the store.
When I got there, I thought I should maybe save myself a trip later, and see if I could come up with something for dinner on Sunday. So I started walking the aisles, seeing if something caught my eye for dinner.
The thing about going that early in the morning is that there are so few people at the store, that you really can take in your surroundings. I was noticing the colors of the produce, and the structure of the rows of stocked aisles. I was noticing the people that were there (hello pajama pants!)(although I have to say that I *almost* went in my pajama pants but the wind convinced me that was a foolish idea--hello cold pajama pants) and the music they were playing over the speakers; not your normal elevator music!
I saw an old principal of my kids. He was basically reading a book in the magazine/book aisle. He was there when I went in, and there when I walked out, reading the same book, in the same spot. Funny.
There was pajama pant lady, and pajama pant man (Double yikes!!), exercise lady, and lots of hats on, what looked like, messy hair (me too~).
One of the more interesting things, as I was slowly making my way through all the aisles, was the night shift employees that were stocking shelves. At this point, they were done with the stocking, and were just going aisle by aisle, straightening all the products that needed it. Each would take a section, on both sides of the aisle, straighten up, then move to the next available section. They were making quick work of each aisle, and it reminded me of the locust; they came, they straightened, they left. Very interesting to watch. I'm sure they thought I was some kind of weirdo, just standing there watching them, but the buzz and precision was so interesting to me, like the 24 hour lapse of film that is sped up to go really fast. I find those fascinating as well.
The other thing that struck me was a dad that had a full cart of groceries. He had obviously started at the back of the store and gone through the aisles getting what he wanted, and was now in the front, in the produce section. Standing next to him was a pretty, little girl, about Tessa's age, that had obviously been pulled out of bed too early on a Saturday morning. She still had sleep in her eyes, and she was leaning on the cart, like it was all should could do to stand up next to it. It made me sad, that she had been obviously been pulled out of bed too early to go to the store. It made me think about my kids and their upbringing. It made me think about how easy I tried to make their lives. Maybe if I had made it a little harder, some of them would have stayed out of trouble a little more. (You know who you are!) Not that I should have dragged them out of bed to go to the store early with me, but I probably should have made them work a little more, and spend more quality time as a family, and....... well, too late to second guess myself now, isn't it?
That is my Wally World adventure for today.
I hope.
