As you know, I’m not a huge fan of leaving The Compound during the busy parts of the day. I don’t like standing in line for stuff. Plus I tend to get edgy in this neighborhood when I see too many vehicles with Bush stickers. (Why are they here? Leave us alone!)
But sometimes duty calls, and today, I made a way overdue trip to the grocery store. I thought it wouldn’t be crowded. A lot of people are off today. I figured they’d already done their ham and egg-dyeing buying.
Boy, was I wrong. But it wasn’t so bad. Especially in the produce section, when I deftly caught a red bell pepper that was trying to escape from the Kroger guy who was stocking there. He was probably my age, maybe a little older. These are the things I learned during the conversation that ensued:
1. His wife is an RN who’ll be working Sunday, so he plans to work, too. He’s been doing this job for more than twenty years.
His grown children are all out of town for Easter.
3. He misses Bill Clinton. He likes Al Gore. He can’t stand Bush. He wants him OUT.
4. He says his family’s doing okay, but he doesn’t know how other families are making it. He doesn’t understand why oil company executives have no shame about the extraordinary amounts of money they’re making even as gas prices rise at the pump and their employees’ benefits packages are shrinking.
It’s not always bad to leave the house and meet new people.
