I did the grocery shopping this morning. Personally, I'd prefer to shop solely at Trader Joes. I love that store. But today I had to go to Safeway. It's a gloomy place and the food looks far past the expiration date. Nevertheless, my love of spray butter always wins over.
Paul lent me his credit card because he is wonderful, and also because he only shops at Safeway between the hours of 11pm-1am, and I refuse to wait that long for dinner.
I was standing in line, sneakily flipping through a Glamour, when I heard the cashier say "Thank you for shopping today Mrs. Johnson."
I looked up rather confused, wondering how they knew each other. Next door neighbors? Childhood friends?
And so I casually observed the next customer in line, and as the cashier pulled the receipt, he looked at the bottom and said, "Thank you for shopping today Mr. Nelson." My stomach clenched as I realized that the name of the cardholder appeared on the receipt, and that when it was my turn, my name would not be the one appearing.
I don't remember much in those next few minutes. Except panic. Finally, the groceries have been bagged, the cashier looks at my slip, and wrinkles his nose. I waited for the inevitable, Miss Paul ---?
During the pause that felt like an eternity, I wondered- would I be hauled off to jail, forced to leave in shame, or pay for my own groceries?
He looked up at me and said, "Thank you for shopping today Miss 08185."
That was a close one.
