Beware of Boxing with Val

We are having a cookout on Monday. That's because it's been a while, and Hick didn't want to do it on Labor Day, because of his precious BUSINESS activities. The Pony is free, and said sausages or hamburgers would be fine. Nothing elaborate. We set out to gather our provisions.

I buy meat at Save A Lot. It's better than what you get at Walmart or Country Mart, and 10Box doesn't have store-made bratwursts. Usually I shop in Backroads, but with The Pony along, we went to the Save A Lot in Sis-Town. If you are familiar with Save A Lot, you know that it's a place where you bag your own groceries at a counter up front. Their bags are small and flimsy. On the way in, I told The Pony:

"Keep your eye out for good boxes. I'll have to carry this in when I get home, because Dad won't be there. I don't want a lot of bags. Boxes are always hard to find at this one. So if something is almost out, we'll put it directly on the shelf, and take the box with us."

I do this all the time when the other store is low on boxes up front under the bagging counter. Like at the end/first of the month, when people are moving. They come in and take boxes. Save A Lot doesn't care. It gets rid of the boxes.

Anyhoo... this Save A Lot must have more efficient staff, because there were NO suitable boxes to be found along the aisles. The closest we came was a box that had five boxes of crackers in it. They would have been easy to stack on the shelf, but The Pony said no! I don't set out with a plan to embarrass The Pony. So I acquiesced.

Our shopping trip was disappointing, because there were NO BRATWURSTS! Only the name-brand kind, which we didn't want. The only store version were the sausage patties. And only in two flavors: jalapeno, and smokehouse cheese. We don't like spicy, and we don't like cheese in our bratwurst. The patty was not a deal-breaker, but the flavor was. So we went without bratwursts and buns, because when I try the other store in Backroads, I don't know if I might find sausages or patties.

Anyhoo... we found a few other items, like lettuce and beans and chips and onion rings and boneless McRib-like shaped pork patties. The Pony wanted a bag of cereal and some sweet-and-sour sauce, and corn dogs. I said it was on me. Because I'm a big spender, you know, and the corn dogs were part of the 5 for $25 deal that included the onion rings and McRib patties.

There was only one lady ahead of us at the checkout, just finishing up. 

"You go in first, Pony, to set out the stuff in the bottom of the cart. And see if you can find a box under the counter."

The cashier scanned the stuff and put it in a cart. The Pony wheeled it off while I was paying with my card, and moving my empty cart around the end of the conveyor for the cashier to use for the next customer.

As I was stuffing my receipt in my shirt pocket, I saw a terrible box in the cart! It was a low, square, brown cardboard box, with a wide flap on each side. No! That was unacceptable! Flaps just get in the way, and you can't stack stuff in a low box, and it's awkward to carry.

"No! I don't want that kind of box!"

The hands putting items into that box stopped. An old lady looked at me like I was a raving maniac! I suppose I WAS! I noticed The Pony off to the left side of the counter, waving at me. To be fair, the Old Lady was right in front of me, barely away from the checkout...

"Oh! I am SO SORRY! I wasn't looking. I thought that was my cart! How embarrassing! Never mind. I AM sorry!"

Heh, heh! So much for not-embarrassing The Pony! Who found a suitable box under the counter, tall sides, orange, rectangular, and easy to carry.

It may take me several days to recover from extracting my foot from my mouth.