What's in your cart?

You can tell a lot about a person simply by taking a gander at what's in their shopping cart. Me, I recently had a male cashier tell me, "Wow, you eat good," upon scanning and bagging my groceries. And yes, I do "eat good." I enjoy food of all kinds including many "healthy" things that sometimes get the upturned nose or wrinkle of disgust from more finicky eaters... but that's not what this story is about.

Yesterday at about 3: 30 p.m. I left the offices of Wordfeeder.com Copywriting and Marketing to run out for some soymilk and a few other assorted items. (You can do this when you work for yourself). While on the express checkout line, I encountered an unattended cart and a young woman off to the side, jouncing a baby about while attempting to soothe and shush it. Two pretty little dark haired girls weaved about the woman's kneecaps and the general area. I asked if the person whose cart it was would return soon - she said it was her cart, and after a few moments handed the baby to the woman in front of her. (I had thought they were together but they weren't.) This made sense - the baby, with its yellow-fuzz topped head and protruding ears, looked nothing like this woman, who had dark eyes and hair and olive skin, as did the two little pixies who evidently belonged to her. She said, "Oh, I offered to hold the baby because it was crying and didn't want to be in the carrier."

After the woman returned to her spot in line, I began to notice the items in her cart. A cluster of 3 or 4 purple beets with their deep green and red-tinged leafy tops. Bright orange carrots, and a knob of fresh ginger. A clump of flat-leafed parsley and a bundle of red swiss chard with its red, rhubarb-like stalks. A few other items, maybe spices, that indicated she, like me, was "a good eater."

So then I took note again, of this lady and her children. She wore no makeup, but her features were attractive and her eyes bright and alert. Her skin glowed and dark hair shined. When she smiled, her teeth lined up in her mouth the way that a set of good, healthy teeth should. Her jeans were baggy, but you could tell that she was trim and fit, and probably carried no extra belly bulk. Her girls had large, dark eyes fringed with long lashes, and Kewpie-doll faces. I started imagining all these wonderful leafy greens and whatever other good things she likely ate, working through the systems of this lady and her family, slightly in awe of our Good Earth and its beauty-and-life-giving properties.

So then I asked the woman, "Your girls eat their vegetables?" And she said, "Well, yes, I'm pretty strict about that." (Even as one of the kids had dropped to the ground onto her back, and was doing her best Human Floor Buffer impression for us. I noted a well-dressed woman glance at the child and make a face of disapproval as she swished by us... guess you can be "strict" about some things, but not others?). For a few moments I flashed back to all my friends with children, shaking their heads and saying things like, "I just can't get him to eat broccoli." "She only eats pasta if I serve it plain, with butter." "He refuses to eat potatoes now." And then I imagined how many children in war-ravaged Afghanistan push away their bowl of rice (answer: not many, I'll bet). And THEN I thought of Dr. Spock, who I recall dispensed the advice, "If your children refuse to eat their dinner, just take it away and tell them they will have to wait until the next meal until they get to eat again (and then break out the same plate of food) - or at least that's how I remember it, don't know, I read Dr. Spock when I was thirteen or so.

But anyway, back to my grocery store tale. If all this good food wasn't enough to impress me, the Au Naturale woman then procured three cloth sacks with handles from the depths of her handbag, and then proceeded to transfer her items into these bags, the leafy beet tops poking out for a last look around. Of course, I asked her about the bags too - and she said she had found a company online that sells reusable bags for grocery shopping, because she felt guilty about all the plastic and paper she had used up in the past. I thought it was a noble effort.

I don't really have anything else to add here. For some reason I was just really into people-watching yesterday at the supermarket. Since you're here, I'll tell you what was in my cart: Dannon La Creme Yogurt (vanilla), a bag of Mi-Del ginger snaps, a carton of unsweeted soymilk from Silk, a box of frozen Stouffer's French Bread Pizza with Extra Cheese, frozen samosas from Tandoori Chef, and a bag of organic oats from the bulk bin. It wasn't vegetable day for the Wordfeeder.

So what's in your cart?

Comments

[Account Deleted]

Dina,
I love this post and I agree with Ann, it would make an excellent article.

I have a two-part comment.
1. I have always had a fascination with what other people are buying at the grocery store. I have often thought I would enjoy being a sacker, so I could see the infinite variety of combinations of food items. I try to imagine what dishes the people will make with their purchases - sometimes it is obvious, like eggs, bread, milk, juice - looks like a typical breakfast, etc. Other times it is impossible to imagine what they'll have for dinner - a package of ground beef, instant Tang, paper towels, peanut butter...

2. I get a great deal of enjoyment from playing "stump the grocery clerk" as they scan my items. I like all vegetables, as far as I can tell - I can cook them or eat them raw in a way that tastes yummy. I like to buy rutabagas, turnips, swiss chard, crimini mushrooms, Japanese eggplant, Brussels sprouts - not all that exotic, but apparently exotic enough to cause quizzical looks and a hurried flip through the produce code book looking for the special code that says, "weird vegetable"