BrandiBlog

On my quest to get to know my new town better, I decided to brave out of my comfort zone today. I went shopping for a few items at a grocery store I hadn’t been to before. Ryan, of course, decided that despite the charming Muzac version of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” that was playing on the overhead speakers, he hated shopping. Halfway through the store he started to yell like a banshee and tried to climb out of the cart, but that’s a different story.

What was really more amusing is what happened in the checkout line.

As the clerk rang up my hamburger buns, the store manager came over the PA system in the store. He said, “Alright, Shoppers! It’s that time! Time for the Daily Trivia Question!”

The eight or so people in line behind me began to chatter in excitement. I looked at them questioningly, and the clerk just smiled that knowing smile. Apparently something really great that was going to happen.

The manager said, “What larger than life actor starred in comedies such as The Great Outdoors, Uncle Buck and Trains, Planes and Automobiles?”

Everyone around me started yelling out their answers. Exhiliration filled the air in the S. Bend, Oregon Albertsons. And then something totally unexpected happened:

A lady 2 carts behind me threw her hands into the air, screamed out, “JOHN CANDY!!!” and took off running to the back of the store. She left her nearly-full cart still in line for checkout.

When does this happen???

The guy standing behind me laughed and said, “She has to run back to the meat counter to give her answer.”

Um, ok.

He explained, “She wins a free bag of groceries. They do this every day at this store. It’s fun.”

He was right. It WAS fun! I can’t recall ever having a more fun time in the checkout line at a grocery store. How could I not love trivia in a grocery store? How could I not love laughing with strangers because someone won a bag of milk, eggs, and bread? How could I NOT love this town?

For some strange reason, I get the feeling that I’m going to be “needing” something from Albertsons more often at 3:30 pm.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 10th, 2008 at 9:54 pm and is filed under Food, Life, Motherhood. You can follow responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response or trackback from your site.