Some People!

I went to the Good Earth Food Co-op here in St. Cloud for one specific thing, apples. I figured since I was making the trip, I'd pick up maple syrup if they had it back in stock since they were out the other day. We get there, and I see that they do have a few apples in the produce seconds bin. I LOVE buying produce seconds because they're only .99 cents a pound, and I can get a variety of apples and other produce such as plums - all organic - for cheap.

So, the first thing I do is reach for a bag to put them in, while my boys start picking out stuff they want, and putting it in their little cart. A man enters the store in a hurry, comes up behind me, grabs a bag, turns and dives into the produce seconds bin. Mind you, there wasn't a whole lot, but I don't mind sharing. I considered myself first, but since he had blocked me, he technically was first into the bin.

As I said, my boys were already putting things they wanted into their cart, and I am standing there waiting for the man to finish, and hoping he leaves some apples. Gryffin exclaims, "Hey there is a peach for me and another for Phoenix!" Technically they were nectarines, but I don't feel like nit picking. I watch as the man turns, and takes one of the nectarines out of my boys cart!

I was gaping at him open mouthed. I don't mind sharing, and I don't even mind that he rudely pushed his way between me and the bin to take first pick, but I CROSS THE LINE at him taking things out of my boys basket, and TECHNICALLY they were there first!

I didn't say anything, and I was going to just let it go. He looks at me, and sees the look on my face, and says, "Oh, were you actually going to buy that?"
"Yeah!" I replied with just a hint of attitude, but mostly I am playing nice. I'm like that, and my boys hadn't noticed what had happened, so I didn't want to call their attention to it.

He looked a tiny bit apologetic, and put an apple back into their cart. Meanwhile I am bagging the contents of their cart to prevent any other stealing. Gryffin says, "Hey, that man gave us an apple!" and I replied, "Yep, he's being nice to us."

I said that because I want my boys to learn that it is a good thing to be nice to others, and not need a reason. Even so, I hope that man realizes that he stole a nectarine from two innocent little boys, and replaced it with an apple. I hope he suffers horrible guilt all night.

In other news, I did get the maple syrup, which Gryffin insisted on helping me with, and spilled a little. I even found a good sale on a bunch of individual containers of yogurt. Then, we went from the health food store to the regular grocery store to pick up a few jugs of water, and while we were there, my boys said, "Hi there!" to everyone they passed. Talk about pride mixed with embarrassment! Pride that they are friendly and open and nice, and embarrassment that they are calling so much attention to me!

I think it is a sad statement on modern life that pretty much everyone seemed surprised that my two little boys were mostly behaving, AND willing to smile and chat with everyone they saw. One lady saw me grimace. You know, the look where you are trying to smile, but are cringing on the inside. She stopped, and told me, "You have such beautiful little boys!"

You know what, I get that a lot. :-)