It’s funny how only two people can be in a grocery store aisle, yet they are trying to access the same section of that aisle at the same time.
Carts and hearts get tangled up in front of the cans of green chilis, or the rarely purchased containers of wasabi powder. There are either stern glares at each other, or awkward and unnecessary apologies for being in each others’ way.
I thought of this as I stood in front of the refrigerated egg case. I only purchase a package of a dozen eggs maybe every two months, and it was blocked by a young woman’s cart as she perused the brands and prices carefully, not noticing me at all. It was quite early in the morning (around 6:30am), and I thought I’d miss the holiday rush. But, here we were, two people in a grocery store aisle. I stood quietly at her side, and finally said, “Excuse me,” as I reached for the refrigerator door.
She barely looked away from the case as she muttered a sincere, “I’m sorry,” and moved her cart slightly. Then she said softly, “The prices changed again.”
I’d noticed the price change, too. It was a random increase of almost two dollars since I’d purchased eggs that last time. I grabbed a dozen, put them in my cart.
“My son said last night, ‘Mom, I want to make Christmas cookies like we did last year!'” she shared.
I quipped in response, “Haha…” and said in a mommy-like voice, “Okay, son…I’ll go to the bank and take out a loan to make that happen!”
We both had a good laugh about that, but then I saw that her laughter dissipated. I flashed back to many days I’d been in this very same grocery store when I was a single parent, struggling to make Christmas cookies happen that year. My mind flashed with memories of hours of clipping coupons and fishing for coins that might have fallen in between the cushions of the couch. I even remembered the days of finding coins in telephone booths from calls where people forgot to collect their change. Oh glory be to God for that seventy-five cents!
So there I was, standing in the egg section of a grocery store at 6:30am, talking to this young woman who reminded me of me. My plan had originally been to check my post office box before going to the grocery store. The sparse traffic on the road made sure to box me in so that I was guided into the left hand turn lane into the grocery store parking lot. I had no choice but to go to the grocery store first. And, when I got out of my car, I found twenty one dollars in my coat pocket. I rarely ever carry cash. I tucked it into the side pocket of my leggings.
The young woman walked away from the egg section with no eggs in her basket. I finally noticed that she was wearing single mom clothes…the ones we single moms don’t give up on wearing so as to assure that our children have everything they need.
I reached into my pocket and pulled out the twenty one dollars and handed it to her. “This is for you.” She was startled, but accepted it. “Why? Why would you give this to me?” she asked with a quavering voice.
“Because, it’s for you. Spend it however you would like.”
In a flash, she turned her cart around and headed back to the egg aisle, and yelled back, “I’M BUYING EGGS!!!”
I had just received the best Christmas gift ever.
