Thursday, April 16, 2009

The first thing to go

I recently turned 57. I took the day off and at some point I went to the supermarket, a form of recreation for me. I was loading up my cart with the usual stuff, dented cans from the bargain bin, a banana, a 24-pack of half-liter water bottles, salmon, a Foster's, when I looked down and saw the cart I was pushing wasn't mine. Everything in it looked too healthy. Apparently, upon returning from some side trip down an aisle, I had just started pushing any old cart that was handy, and it didn't happen to be mine.

I went back several aisles and sure enough, there was a housewife wondering around with her arms loaded with food stuff, looking very annoyed, searching for her cart.

I sheepishly returned her cart to her and took mine, which was standing abandoned nearby. Then upon checking out a short while later, I realized that I no longer had my carton of water placed on the bottom shelf of my cart, just over the wheels. Ah, I thought, so that's where I took over the other cart temporarily, in the water aisle.

So I went looking for the housewife a second time, to ensure that she didn't inadvertently leave the store without noticing the water crate on the underside of her shopping cart. I found her in a checkout lane in an agitated discussion with the cashier about that very crate of water in her cart.

I wondered, as I sheepishly unloaded the miscreant water crate from underneath her cart, if short-term memory is the first thing to go.

11 comments:

ShirleyPerly said...

Happy Belated Birthday!

Maybe you ought not to try tris. You might end up taking the wrong bike :-)

Sunshine said...

The cart woman would have done better with a sense of humor.
Cart swapping happens.

It shouldn't take on more significance because you just counted another year of your age.

Runners do deserve healthy food.. next time consider keeping her cart?

Happy birthday, Peter... And a hopeful new year in your life.

Rainmaker said...

Ha! Hilarious! I think there's a potential game to be had here with moving folk's shopping carts around and putting random items in them...

Kelly said...

Well, Happy Birthday! I dunno if I'd call that a problem with short-term memory... perhaps just paying attention :).

jeanne said...

Happy Birthday! I'm having trouble getting past the fact that you go to the GROCERY STORE--the epicenter of hell--for recreation!

Or maybe your recreation entails stealing poor housewive's carts.

:)

DawnB said...

happy belated birthday Peter!!

Susan said...

I'd say so... my short term memory has been awful since my 20's!

David said...

Being 57 myself I have no idea if it's the first thing to go.

A Plain Observer said...

I have been doing the cart swapping for years, long before I considered myself even middle age. Now, my biggest problem is remembering where I parked and sometimes, which car I'm driving.
Happy Birthday, it beats the alternative

Christie said...

Happy belated birthday! This story cracked me up.

Anne said...

Yes, let me offer belated birthday greetings too, Peter. I've done the cart swap thing before and had it done to me by people far younger than both of us. At least there wasn't anything embarrassing in your true cart.