paisleypiper's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- havarti kiss This evening I went to our neighborhood grocery store. The grocery store never fails to surprise me, even after seven years in its present location, first because I remain thankful that we have such a wonderful store in the city (it is the only good store in the entire inner city) and second because even though the store is packed and always I take one of the last remaining parking spaces I rarely wait longer than five minutes standing in line at the checkout counter. Our neighborhood grocery store functions as another place to see and be seen and more often than not, I see someone I know. Sometimes yuppies shop at our grocery store, as several parts of the inner city have been �discovered� and floods of neat people have set up residences. So now, we have this type of diversity also and occasionally I am amused. Due to our demographics, we have extensive Mexican, Asian and health food sections, not to mention a vast and impressive selection of balsamic vinegar. This evening I followed a yuppie couple through the store. They were still outfitted from work and carried a hand basket, making careful selections after much conversation and friendly debate. At the butcher counter, the woman carefully selected which boneless, skinless chicken breasts she wanted and then enquired �will they keep their shape after I cook them? I�ve asked you to pull the ones that I thought looked the best and now I�m wondering whether when they shrink from cooking they will shrink following their overall shape.� The butcher just looked at her and asked whether she would be tenderizing them because that, too, could impact the shape. She panicked and the male took over the exchange while she kept her cool and turned her thoughts to salad dressing. I wanted to cruise by and say �hmmm, ready made?� because if one selects chicken based on shape, it seems out of character to purchase ready made dressing, but I�m nicer than that. Besides, I found myself rather amused with them and the serious manner in which they approached food-acquisition. I jumped to the conclusion that they were having the man�s boss over to dinner to find out about that big promotion. The woman clearly had already had her promotion�. Something about her outfit revealed that to me, but I can�t point to what it is, perhaps her bone-colored shoes or her scarf. I began hoping that they made the choices that would provide a tipping point, as it were, for the promotion and not against. If it all came down to vegetables, asparagus would be a good choice because those spears seem goal-oriented and yet they are beautiful and trim. Our big moment came in the cheese section. Most people at the grocery store shunned the cheese section. In fact, all of the yuppie types dutifully read labels and the chip aisle was completely deserted. I thought this couple would also shun the cheeses, but instead, they positioned themselves directly in front of the bars of cheese. They talked and compared labels. Then the man said �honey, how about havarti?� And the wife agreed that havarti it would be and then they kissed, on the lips, for a significant amount of time, given it is a grocery store and they are blocking the cheese display. I needed to get some feta cheese for dinner and found myself waiting through a kiss, trying not to look, trying to inspect other food goods and organize the cart. A havarti kiss, I�ve never seen the likes before tonight. 10:53 p.m. - 2003-06-17 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
||||||