I’ve had to use an electric cart in the grocery store a few
times in the past for various health reasons which I won’t bore you with
with which I won’t bore you. (Helpful hint: never end a sentence with a
preposition like “with” or “at” because it makes you sound uneducated…but I
digress...) I had to use the electric cart again today. Now,
in the past, I would keep my head down and try not to make eye contact because
I was so filled with embarrassment. These carts were for old people, not
me. But I hurt bad enough that it was that or go hungry, plus I had a man
to feed.
Today was like that…ride or go hungry. So I rode and, this
time, I didn’t feel at all embarrassed. I’m not sure why that is…I mean I
didn’t make a conscious decision to not be embarrassed…I just wasn’t. I
hurt so I rode, and it was that simple.
People are much nicer to you when you ride. They move out
of your way or offer to reach something for you on an upper shelf if you need
it. If you put it in reverse, it makes a beeping sound and everyone
scatters. And if you accidentally run it into a corner and knock off
eleven boxes of key lime tea cookies they pick them up for you and put them in
your cart back on the shelf.
Now here’s the really good part. The store will let you
ride it all the way to your car after checking out. Yep, that’s right,
out the door and to the car. A nice person will accompany you and then
put the groceries in your car for you and ride it back into the store.
Today, I told my kind helper, an African American who must have
been in her 40s and looked very tired, that she should ride it around the outer
parking lot a couple of times because the sun was shining and it was in the 70s
and no one would know. She looked at me with big round eyes and her mouth
shaped into an “o.” And then she slowly smiled and I smiled back. I
don’t know if she did it. Probably not because she wouldn’t want to risk
her job but I hope she did it anyway. The cool thing is, we made a momentary
connection. She knew I needed help and I knew she needed a break.
That was nice.
P.S. I could also have used their online ordering,
but on this particular day I had to pick up medicine so I had to go to the
pharmacy in person…plus getting out of the house is good. If I hadn’t, I never would have met my kind
helper. Kindness, happiness, caring, and love…it’s all good.
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Barbara L. Brown