snatches of conversation in the orbit of the supermarket

[asakiyume]

The first I heard from behind me as I was walking along the boardwalk that crosses over a low-lying area on the way to the supermarket.

"No. No, if you've lusted after him in your HEART that's the same as ADULTERY ... Okay. But like Job. Job said--"

I couldn't quite get what Job said, and I'm surprised to hear Job referenced in this context (so maybe I misheard), since Job wasn't lusting after anyone; he just had his family wiped out in a divine thought experiment.

I took a covert glance behind me, and it was a young woman talking on the phone to someone. I didn't want to stare, so I didn't get a close look, but she *might* be the same woman I see walking this route sometimes, with large, bright headphones on, wearing a rapturous expression. I always thought she must be listening to very excellent music but now--if it's the same woman--I'm thinking it might be something else.

The second was a tiny daughter to her mother--they were leaving the supermarket as I was entering.

"We got SO MUCH candy, mom," the girl said. Sounding highly satisfied.

Third was actually a person I was talking to. It was at the Western Union counter. Every four weeks I send my tutor payment for my Tikuna lessons, but I always get $2.00 change. At the same counter they sell scratch tickets and the non-scratch-ticket lottery stuff, and last month I decided that for ten tries, I will spend my $2.00 change on $2.00 lottery tickets and see what happens. Will I lose a full $20? Or will I win some fraction of it back? Or will I make a KILLING! ... I have a strong feeling it will be Option No. 1 (two goes have netted me zero), but letting the test play out means I get to handle these glittery, shiny, throw-your-money-away-on-us tickets. I'm taking photos of each one--when I'm all finished, I'll post them and tell you the results.

So I asked for one once I'd sent the money, but the woman behind the counter was young, and I felt self-conscious, so I blurted out why I was doing this, and she nodded. "I sometimes buy a $10 ticket on my break," she said. "I've never won ANYTHING."

There you have it!

Comments

[f0rrest]

Divine thought experiment, love it.

Also, I can relate to the urge to over-explain when doing something you feel embarrassed about, thus kind of revealing to the person you're speaking to that you are indeed embarrassed about it, when, if you hadn't said anything at all, they probably wouldn't have given it a second thought. It's a funny reminder that all of this is in our heads.

[asakiyume]

Absolutely: you end up bringing about the very embarrassment you're aiming to avoid (or anyway, you can--it doesn't always happen).

[heleninwales]

It's not even things you're embarrassed about. Sometimes it's just when you're doing something unusual. Last week I had a cheque for £300 to pay in at the bank. The cheque was from an elderly friend to pay me back for getting cash for her. Usually someone else gets the cash but they were doing jury duty, so she'd asked me to do it.

The bank clerk did not need to know why I was paying in a personal cheque for £300, so why did I blurt out the reason? Thankfully I managed to stop myself before I went on to explain about the usual carer doing jury service.

[asakiyume]

Yes, any time the situation is unusual or might provoke curiosity, I agree! Which I think explains why people find themselves saying stuff to the police even though the advice (in the United States), if the police should stop you, is to NOT be telling them all about your day and what's going and why you happen to be traveling Highway 9 this morning. Being stopped by the polices is a highly unusual situation, and even if you're entirely innocent--probably especially if you're entirely innocent--you're going to feel that urge to say something.

[heleninwales]

I haven't been stopped by the police for many years, but when we drove very old cars, it did happen sometimes. The weirdest was once when (unbeknownst to us) they were looking for a dangerous criminal and we were stopped because my husband bore a passing resemblance to the wanted man. It was extremely odd being approached very cautiously by two grim looking police officers. Thankfully, when they got a proper look, they realised that G was not the man they were looking for.

[asakiyume]

How terrifying!

I was once approached by a police officer when I was carrying a camo backpack that had a skateboard sticking out of it. Turns out someone had been firing at schoolbuses with a BB gun, and I guess from a distance "thing protruding from backpack" set off alarm bells

[heleninwales]

Eeek! Considering that your police carry guns, that must have been a worrying encounter until the officer could see what you were carrying.

[sartorias]

I bet someone is having a birthday party...

[asakiyume]

A fabulous one!

[sovay]

snatches of conversation in the orbit of the supermarket

I was walking around the nearby campus yesterday afternoon when a bunch of student-aged peoeple passed in a rush and all I heard from one of them was "And he's such a bad kisser . . ."

[asakiyume]

All the men in the vicinity shrink away! ("Wasn't me! I'm not the one! I'm at the very least an above-average kisser!")

[marycatelli]

Probably Job 31. Either verse 1 or verse 9

[asakiyume]

Whoa, yes! 31:1 would do it! (And 31:9 would do as backup!)

You and this woman know Job much better than I do!

[osprey_archer]

SO MUCH candy! I feel highly satisfied just hearing about it.

[asakiyume]

Right?? One can entertain oneself imagining the various types ... the colors, the wrappers... are they going in little bags? In a big common bowl? A piñata?

[light_of_summer]

Ah, memories of candy from when I was old enough to walk to the store by myself, but my money still came from an allowance, and I had no idea I was sensitive to sugar and allergic to chocolate. Old favorites:

Neccos! (so easy to make last a long time!)

Rocky road bars (regular and mint versions, fairly easy to nibble slowly)

Brach's bulk "orange slices" (like orange-flavored gumdrops but a different shape—I used to slice these into little pieces to make them last longer)

a type of Brach's bulk candy that I never knew the name of (and they don't seem to sell any more), that looked like little, cream-colored, rectangular bricks of nougat (or possibly taffy), but with little bits of red and orange and yellow gumdrop-material randomly embedded in them...

Those were my favorite childhood grocery store candies. My favorite candy store candies were locally-made Cotlet (also somewhat gumdrop-like in consistency, but ¿apricot/walnut?-flavored), Pistachio Ice Cream Fudge, and Coconut Birds Nests (an Easter favorite, usually filled with miniature "hummingbird egg" jelly beans).

Ah, candy nostalgia!

What were (or are?) your favorites?

[asakiyume]

I definitely like Necco wafers and used to live near a factory that made them :-)

There used to be a kind of mint candy that came in a long box, with stacks of different flavors: peppermint, wintergreen, spearmint, and then maybe also lemon and orange (with no mintiness). The candy was in little disks that were ridged on the back, and the consistence was sort of like marzipan: firm, but your teeth go right through it, not crunchy. They were called something like Merry Mints. (Oh look, here's something nowadays that does them!)

And I liked hot balls (and I still like hot cinnamon candies) and pixie dust, though we didn't get that very often. oh, and Smarties.

Oh: and cotton candy. Love that.

And I liked chocolate candy bars of various sorts ;-)

[light_of_summer]

Oh, interesting! I'm not sure I ever had those ridged wafers—they only look a teeny bit familiar. We got Campfire Girls chocolate-coated soft mints annually, though. And at least once, my Mom made cookies that each had one of those mints baked into the middle, constructed by crimping two thin cookies together with a mint inside.

I found cotton candy disappointing, but I liked (and still like) mint and wintergreen and citrus and cinnamon flavors. These days, I can eat Spry brand's xylitol-sweetened peppermint and hot cinnamon candies. I think they used to make wintergreen and spearmint flavors, too, but they seem to have discontinued those. Well, better some than none!