"Honey, can you go to Costco and get a few things?" my wife asked this past Saturday.
"Sure," I replied. "Give me the list." I was happy. I was relaxed . On Friday evening, we were at a mini-concert where we heard melodious, soft ghazals (love songs). The lilting music still reverberated and the mood was still with me.
I drove towards Costco at a leisurely pace, at peace with myself. And then I entered the Costco parking lot and was rudely woken up from my reverie. It was almost chaotic. I got a parking spot which was probably the farthest from the store. There were folks scurrying around as if there was no tomorrow, pushing carts as if they were in a race against time. There were cars following people with carts as they exited the store to their cars, to get that parking. I almost got run over twice.... by carts!.... one of them being pushed by a sweet old lady, whose head barely reached above the handle bars of the cart. And all this happened even before I got into the store!
"Is there something going on inside Costco?" I asked an elderly gentleman, just outside the store. "It seems crowded."
He looked at me as if I was from another planet. "Son, its Saturday and this is Costco." He then walked away, shaking his head. I had a very ominous feeling that time. I almost turned back. But what would I tell my wife? I got a cart and charged on.
If the parking lot was busy, the store inside was a madhouse. There were people and carts every where. People walked aimlessly, ogling at the merchandise, leaving their carts in the middle of the aisles. Then a cart shoved me and my cart hit a lady right in front of me. The lady turned and glared at me, I turned around and glared at the 11-yr old kid who had pushed the cart into me, the kid turned around and glared at his dad walking behind him. The dad was all of 6 feet 5, about 300 pounds and he threw the glare back at me. I looked away quickly and tried to disappear into the sea of humanity!
Then I ran into this line that extended about half-way around the aisle. "What's this line about?" I asked a young lady.
"Oh... it's the free food samples," she replied.
Are you kidding me, I thought to myself. People stand in line for ten minutes to get minuscule amount of food that would barely touch the palate of a chihuahua! And by the way, none of the people standing in line for the "free" samples had their carts with them. So where were the carts? Probably the ones choking the next aisle! Why is it that we just have to get anything that's free?
Anyway, I survived the Saturday Costco challenge. I'm already getting excuses ready for the next time my wife asks me to go to Costco on a Saturday.
Shopping is a women thing. It's a contact sport like football. Women enjoy the scrimmage, the noisy crowds, the danger of being trampled to death, and the ecstasy of the purchase. ~ Erma Bombeck.
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