We Have To Go To The Store, Now

That was one of the first things my husband said to me when he got home from work today. Roo and I were standing there ("the welcome party" *snicker*), and there were no smooches, hugs or anything for us. It was all, "Get ready, I want to go before the crowds hit, blah, blah, blah.."

Okay, so I want to know what it looked like when the crowds hit, because Wal-Mart and Krogers were packed... Petsmart, not so much.. but WalMart and Krogers?? Oh my word! You'd have thought there was some sort of major Black Friday event going on, and it was only 4:00! I know snow is coming, but it's not supposed to hit until tomorrow night.

And people are rude! What has happened to us as a society that we think it's okay to give people the eye or storm off, or nearly run someone over with your Wally-Kart on purpose?!? If you're in that big of a hurry or someone is going too slow say, "Excuse Me".. You'd be amazed at how fast the waters will part. Sometimes.  That's what I did. LOUDLY.

Poor Roo! She'd had enough of crowds and stores and was in that unreachable place, sobbing her eyes out, and all I wanted to do was leave. But there were so many people checking out, even at customer service, it was like a gridlock. We weaved our way through check outs & came to the main way. It was jam packed with lines to customer service. There I was, standing there, just me with a child in my cart, who was crying loudly, obviously not trying to get in line, and only ONE person towards the end of a line looked at me and tried to move to let me through. Unfortunately, even after that one, young person tried to move, our eyes met and we both knew that even if she did get out of line, there wasn't enough room for me to get by.. So what did I do? I started playing my own round of Wally-Kart. "EXCUSE ME. EXCUSE ME. COMING THROUGH. YEAH, WE JUST WANT TO GET THROUGH HERE. THANKS SO MUCH." And Bam! It's amazing how fast people suddenly notice you when your about to run them over, teeheehee..

Roo finished her meltdown in the car while daddy checked out inside. Eventually, she calmed down enough to ask for some tissues (in her own way), and I put in a favorite CD of hers. That really mellowed her out. I don't know if she heard me or not, but all I could tell her when we got in the car, mid-meltdown, was that I understood, and sometimes crowded stores upset me too. I'd like to think that she did, but probably not. On our way home, we treated her to McDonald's fries for supper--her favorite--because she was such a trooper.. And, lets face it, after such a stressful shopping spree, nobody was up to cooking. That was our big adventure of the day, shopping.. stocking up.. and surviving. ;)