Rob and I were at Wal-Mart the other day (yes, you read that correctly, I stepped into a Wal-Mart and now have Target guilt) to buy a camera case for the new, beautiful camera we just bought. We also bought a few other items and promptly went to go pay for them at checkout. Checking out at Wal-Mart is one of the reasons I hate going to this big box store,,, it takes FOREVER! Why? Because obviously, everyone else in the Salt Lake Valley loves Wal-Mart and they all decide to show up at the one time I decide to go there, and when it's time for me to check out everyone's E.S.P. kicks in and they run to the checkout lines in order to foil my quick escape.
I usually have an impeccable technique for picking the correct line, the quickest line, at check out. It's something my husband marvels at and I am now quite proud of this skill. Well, what ever skill I have did not work for us this particular evening and we got stuck in THE SLOWEST LINE EVER! Literally, I think it was the checker's first day on the job because she was very slow and precise about getting those UPC symbols in the correct position to scan. SO SLOW! There are a lot of things I am good at but patience in check-out lines is not one of them. I tried to get out of the line, I really did, but there were people behind us and magazine racks to the left of us and candy shelves to the right and I was about to hyperventilate right there! Rob realized my panic and rubbed my back and whispered into my ear, "breathe, it's just a line, you'll be alright."
I knew I had to do something to get through the wait so I took a look at what everyone else was buying and I about fainted. There was a woman and her child in front of me and they had a ton of groceries on the belt. It wasn't the amount of food that was there that worried me, it was the content. There was not one vegetable! NOT ONE! Not even a bad veggie, say a potato, which you can slice up, put into a vat of oil and deep fry for french fries,,, not even one of those! You want to know what was on her grocery list, since veggies are obviously satan's tools for skinny people? Here's the list of what I saw: about 20 packages of ramen noodles, 10 (count them,,, I did) 10 packages of macaroni and cheese, three different types of potato chips, 2 massive jugs of Hawaiian Punch (the red stuff that hurts my teeth just thinking about it,) 6 bottles of Pepsi, 2 one pound bags of M&M's, 2 loaves of white bread, a mound of Hungry Man dinners, a half-gallon of ice cream, and the list goes on.
This seriously worries me and now I completely understand why my mom would never let us go grocery shopping with her when we were little, because she would have been put through an onslaught of begging for junk food. You know the kid thought he had hit the proverbial jackpot that evening. I wonder if the mom ever said no to him at all or just told him, "you know what, I'm tired of making grocery lists, why don't we just let you decide what to eat for dinner this week?" When did we start letting our children dictate what we should eat? Aren't we the ones who are supposed to be setting good examples for our children? Aren't we supposed to be forcing those horrible things we call vegetables down our children's throats or are we scared that *gasp* they may just like a veggie or two? Okay I need to stop now or my head might explode.
Next week I'll give you my thoughts on teen drivers and what the hell parents are thinking when they buy their 16 year old a Lexus.
I see why you and Susannah get on so very well!!!!
Jen, breathe. In and out. Deeply.
Posted by: Lins | March 19, 2006 at 02:47 PM