Trader Joes Without Coffee
So it’s noon, and I haven’t had any coffee yet. I’m doing my grocery shopping at TJs, and my brain, you’ll see, has clearly gone on vacation…
So I’m doing my routine. I usually leave my cart in an area and grab a bunch of stuff nearby, come back to my cart and keep moving. I do that, except I quickly realize I have taken someone else’s cart.
I go back to where I grabbed the cart, and of course there is a bewildered woman looking around at the ceiling and chasing her tail. I apologize and give her her cart back. Then run back after her a second later to take back the milk and eggs.
Then I go back to get my actual cart. Do about 20 minutes more shopping, load up on the groceries, before realizing again “I never bought organic chicken…” I spend 3 minutes coming to terms that I have once again taken the wrong cart.
I look for my cart, all the while overanalyzing every glare I get from any TJs employee as if I’m on some wanted list. It is nowhere to be found. Probably confiscated for prints. I quietly abandon my cart and transfer all my products into a new one.
I make sure never to lose sight of my cart again.
As I come up to the register. A lady and I converge at the same counter. I graciously let her go first (even though I did have a second lead on her). I’m somewhat curious. I look at what she’s buying.
I see organic chicken. I see 10 other things from the cart I dejected.
After feeling both moronic and paranoid, I get a small sense of relief that there is some strange force of justice in the world.
