Showdown at the Corner Grocer

Standing in long lines with the kids at the grocery store just isn’t my thing. It really rattles my calm, cool demeanor. It unnerves me. Unsettles me. Kinda chaps my hide.

My point is, as the mother of two under five, I just do better when the cart is moving quickly through aisles. In fact, we all just do better with the wind in our hair and a nip at our cheeks. Our behavior is at its best with a rushed pace. We simply need an ever changing scenery of people, boxes of cereal and stacks of vegetables rolling past. Things move so smoothly…..efficiently…calmly ……when there’s movement. And, lots of it.

There’s something about being parked in an endless, unhurried line alongside tempting treats with a cart full of monkeys that completely derails the whole shopping experience. Needless to say, my mood takes an immediate nosedive.

I have done a few extra laps at the grocery store just to avoid a slow moving cashier. I have even deliberately quickened the pace when I spied a competitive fellow shopper eyeing the same short line. And, I’ve even gone so far as to cross items off the shopping list just for a chance to dart to a “no one’s in line over here” offer from a perky, Quick Draw McGraw cashier.

So, agreed, I like to avoid long lines. The question is, at what cost?

It was a typical morning at the grocery store. I had scored a double cart. I had found my items quickly. And, I had even happened upon a few sales.

My mood was light as I rounded the corner to spy a short line at check stand 3 with Ms. Quick Draw herself manning the ship.

And, then she came into view. Pushing a granny of a cart, complete with misbehaving wheels, it was clear she had eyed me first. She fidgeted with her Baby Bjorn strapped to her chest and was attempting to settle her grouchy toddler twins propped in the double cart.

With three kids under three years, I was clearly outnumbered.

Her cart was beyond full, bulging at the seams and groaning from the weight of the groceries. Not quite my pick to stand behind at the grocery store.

We faced each other silently, nose to nose, two mothers at the ultimate gunslinger showdown at the OK Corral.

She made the first move.

“You were here first?” I detected a snarl in her tone as her shifty eyes peered at the short line like a hawk peering at its prey.

The answer, of course, was yes. I was here first. My trigger finger was itching as I pondered my options.

I resigned myself.

“Go for it.” I nodded towards the line and left with a wink and a smile.

Sometimes, that long meandering line with the slow-as-Christmas cashier kinda looks inviting. Cozy, in fact.

And, sometimes, you just need to know when to back down.

Like a good gunslinger.