Shallow Moe

Well, it's true. I'm petty. And here's why:

I miss sacking my own groceries.

I know this seems stupid, but I really do miss it. I love grocery shopping – checking out the produce, picking just the right pieces of chicken, selecting spices for the latest and greatest recipe I've found. And the culmination of all these choosy options (choosy mom's choose jif!) was purchasing and packing my items in my green bag made for me by Mary Ann.

I have a system, I truly do, when I pack up my groceries. Eggs go on the bottom. (I know – people everywhere are cringing just at the though that those words may be uttered ever – but trust me I've never broken an egg.) Fruit of course is on the top. Other things get placed in the proper position, all which makes it work for one bag (maybe two if I have chicken...then I will put that in plastic in case it leaks).

Anyway, here where I live, there are sackers at the end of every checkout and they get really annoyed if you try to sack your own groceries. Now if these are young kids, I don't care if I piss them off, but when it's retired men who may or may not have to work to make ends meet, then I just feel awful telling them I brought my own bag and trying to bag things myself.

Part of my pettiness is that I feel awful these guys have to work. And like I said, maybe they don't have to work, maybe they just want to have something to do with their days. But what if they do have to work to make ends meet. What if this was the only job they could get, the only place they are hired and the only way they can put meat on the table? And I come in all miss snazzy pants with my “I have my own bag” crap. How does that make them feel? How does that make me look?

Today I went to the store and I walked out feeling petty – because I brought my own bag, because I tried to sack my own stuff (I did end up letting him do it, though he didn't seem too pleased), and mostly because I felt like my shopping experience had been a let down. The culmination of everything didn't come to fruition and I feel petty because of it. All because I wish I could have sacked my own groceries instead of the retired guy doing it.