Adventures In Grocery Shopping

Yesterday I made my weekly trip to the grocery store. Had I known beforehand how stressful it was going to be I would have stayed home. As we got there I put Livi in the cart and started to walk in while I was looking for the straps to buckle her down. I realized that one end was broken and wouldn't latch. At this point I should have turned around and got a different cart. But being lazy and not wanting to waste any time I decided it would be fine. Shortly after reaching the produce department Livi begins to climb out of the seat, so I stuck her in the basket. Not smart I know, but she usually sits down and plays with what I put in and has a great time. Not today. I put in some peaches and apples, she proceeded to throw them out. I put in some zucchini, again, overboard. I decided to carry her until I got more things in the cart for her to play with. Once I had a few things in there she could touch I put her back. She was playing with some peanut butter and a bottle of salad dressing, all plastic bottles. All of sudden she has the jam (in a glass jar) in her hand. Before I can get it away from her she hurles it over the side shattering it into several pieces and leaving a nice trail of raspberry jam. I picked up the largest junks of glass and then made my way to find an employee who could clean it up. It took me forever to find someone, when I finally did I led him back to the scene, apologized, offered to help and was told it was no big deal and continued on my way. At this point I should have just gone home, but I was already half way done. I put Livi back in the seat and ended up tying the waist straps in a knot so she couldn't budge. Incidentally, seconds later I came across a lady who said I should win the mother of the day award because I had my child strapped in. She said it "drove her crazy" when mom's let their kids stand in the basket. Oops. I picked up the rest of the items on my list without further incident and made my way to the check out. I always feel sorry for the people that are behind me at the grocery store. At this point Livi is usually screaming to get out of the cart, and on top of that I take forever because I do price matching. For those that don't know, Walmart will match any stores sale price as long as you bring in the ad and show them. There are three big grocery store chains here and every week I bring all 3 of their ads with me to Walmart in order to get the cheapest price. For example, yesterday HEB had red peppers on sale for .79 while Walmarts regular price is nearly 2.00. You can see how it would add up. Anyway, I could tell the lady behind was getting annoyed because I was taking so long. Finally I was finished and loading my bags back in the cart when I notice a can of pepper in a bag with my milk. I tell the cashier that it isn't mine so she goes to take it out and it pops open and gets pepper all over the milk jug and the counter. Then she has to go and get paper towel to clean it up. Then she tries to refund me for the pepper but can't figure it out and has to call a manager. I am not exaggerating when I say it took me over 30 minutes to check out. In the mean time the lady behind me packed up every one of her items and went to another register. I didn't really feel bad for her because she was kind of acting snotty, but I did feel bad for the cashier. I know how frustrating working a register can be. It can get confusing. I could tell she felt bad that it was taking so long to figure out the refund. When she finally finished she handed me a receipt and apologized, still obviously a bit flustered. I was just grateful that she was finished that I thanked her and left. I only realized today that she gave me a receipt but no money! Luckily, it was only 1.66 or I would have been upset. All of that work for nothing. It was a perfectly suited ending to a memorable trip to the grocery store.