Kathleen McCall:
Occasional�� Muse�

2002-04-12 - 11:33 p.m.

Who Needs an Opera House?

There are some very nice things about living in a smaller town.

Yesterday, I needed to run to the grocery store after I picked the girls up from school. The girls hate the grocery store. I think it's a single parent thing; when I have to go to the grocery, the girls have to go with me whether they want to or not. Also, I've never bought them toys or candy there; the grocery has always been a place to buy things that were on the list in my hand. I've never once bought them candy at the checkout - in fact, older child did not know that candy was for sale until she was five or so and was amazed to see someone buy some right out of the display. Call me tight - I just knew that once I did it, every trip would be a whiny nightmare of "Can we get...." But now that they're older, I will sometimes let them pick out a bag of chips or crackers if I have to take them after school. So they each chose a bag of chips, and I decided to buy myself a mocha at the delicatessen counter.

What is a woman two steps away from food stamps doing buying herself specialty coffees, you ask? You may well ask. Ha! Ask all you want. I never said I was sensible. Besides, THEY got chips! I didn't get any chips! I NEVER get any chips! Why can't I have something, huh? I never get anything, they always...

Oh. Okay. So I bought the mocha, and the girl at the counter said, "You've been here before - do you have one of our coffee cards?" - you know the sort of thing, if you buy ten coffees you get one free - and I DO have one, but of course I have no idea what I did with it and I'm nowhere near ten coffees. I DO have some restraint. So the girl got out another one, and she put THREE stamps on it because she knows I have been in before - and then (this is the good part, hang in there) she said, "How about if I just keep it here for you so you don't lose it?" And she wrote my name on the card and stuck it to the side of the microwave oven they use for warming sandwiches, and now I know right where my coffee card is.

I think that is so cool.

This is the grocery that never used to ask if they could take your cart out for you; they just DID it. The young man would grab the handle and say cheerfully, "Which way?" instead of the chain market's sullen, "You don't want any help with this, do you?" I always loved that, because if they ASK me if I need help, I have to say no - I am perfectly able-bodied and anyway I don't need some young kid looking at the mountain of crap in the back of the MomWagon and saying "Wow." But the truth is, I love it when they take the cart out, even though it makes me feel somewhat matronly, because then they have to take it BACK, too.

This is the grocery that is going through a difficult period of transition right now. They used to try to compete with the bigger chain grocery/drug in town, but they've apparently given up that fight. Now they've targeted the hip specialty market our neighbor city, and they're changing to a more trendy line. This is good and bad. It's good because they now have specialty coffees and a much better selection of teas and they have lavender hand lotion samples at the checkout. It's bad because when my kids want chicken nuggets they want CHICKEN NUGGETS, for Chrissakes, and I don't like having to paw through all the ChickaSoy Patties and the Tofuggets to find the ones that used to have feet and beaks. And they don't take my cart out any more.

But I'm still their slave. They have my coffee card right on their microwave, and I can go in any old time and they'll say, "Oh, good morning, Kathleen! Are you here for your mocha? Want whipped?" And if I don't have the kids with me, I won't even have to spend any money on chips.

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