Last minute grocery shopping is never a good idea. Especially when you are in a hurry. When company is arriving in exactly an hour and you still haven’t made 2 of your 3 dishes. It can set a person in panic mode within an instant.
On Sunday evening, I wheeled my shiny and slick grocery cart into the local store to pick up a few things for dinner. In my cart are the following items: zucchini, parmesan cheese, a loaf of bread, balsamic vinegar and some basil. I am lacking only one item, the Italian seasoning. The recipe only calls for 1 teaspoon of the stuff, but I’ve convinced myself the whole recipe will fail if I don’t include this in my version. I scan the seasoning section which covers almost half an aisle and I spot the Italian seasoning and throw it into my cart. I’ve finished my grocery shopping in record time, under fifteen minutes and I have exactly forty five minutes to assemble the rest of my dinner.
But no. I had my wanna get away moment in the middle of the grocery store. As I was rolling my cart down the aisle, the corner caught on a display of thermometers in their cardboard boxes. I tried to be deliberate and slow the roll of my cart into this collision, but it was too late. The next thing I know, hundred of these cardboard boxes litter the floor. Everyone is looking at me. It was only me this time, because my kid was with husband. I couldn’t blame her.
All I could do is say “Whoops” and kneel down to the ground and start picking up the mess I caused. As soon as I go to assemble my damage, two ladies proceed over to me and tell me not to worry about it, they will take care of it. I keep insisting and they tell me to go on with my shopping.
It was embarassing when it happened, but the ladies made me feel better by saying at least it wasn’t jars of a liquid something splattered on the floor with tons of glass surrounding it.
And then I got it. All of our foibles, embarassing moments, screwups, accidents, and mistakes are sometimes too much for us to bear.
But really it always could be worse.
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Have you experienced a wanna get away moment? How did you handle it? Did you realize that the outcome could have been worse? Ever had a grocery mishap like mine?
Image by By Universal Pops (moving at snail’s pace)
Welcome! I am a lawyer turned freelance writer, essayist, and editor. On staff at Literary Mama and the co-founder and co-editor of the literary journal, The Sunlight Press, my essays and reported work have appeared in The Washington Post, The Lily, Saveur, Civil Eats, Brain, Child, ESPN and elsewhere. I am currently at work on a memoir on grief and culture and how it provides perspective on life’s ordinary graces. I invite you to appreciate the ordinary with me. I hope my daily practice of seeing the magic in the mundane helps you celebrate and find more of these moments in your life too.
I had one of those moments in a gift shop while out West. I actually broke a fragile piece of pottery. I insisted on paying for it, but the owner would not hear of it…I purchased a duplicate piece and other items that I hoped would cover the the loss. I also was terribly embarrassed, but I was calmed by the gracious storekeeper.
Ever drop a gallon of milk in the grocery store? Man, those plastic jugs bust wide open on impact!!
Oh no!!! I dropped a 6 pack of bottled beer once…oops!
How awful for you! I am glad, though, for those kind ladies who helped you out.
I have these moments every time I’m out with my kids. Maybe that’s why I don’t go anywhere anymore…
I know that panicky “people-are-coming-over” feeling so well. At least you weren’t shopping on an empty stomach. You might have wound up wandering through the candy aisle, completely lost. (or is that just me?)
Hmm … you mean like when I dropped a huge pickle jar? I couldn’t do anything but stand there and stare at it. I think I was too stunned to be embarrassed.
Oh, yeah. But it could always be worse. I hate using that as an anti-anxiety device, but on my darkest, most irrational nights, I absolutely do. It’s better than counting sheep, that’s for sure!
A couple of years ago, I was out to lunch with a coworker who stopped on our way out to admire a three-layer strawberry cake. The cake stand toppled, and she ran. That was humiliating for all of us!