Today my significant other (SO) went to the grocery store to do the Thanksgiving dinner shopping.
Be it for Thanksgiving or for a regular Tuesday night dinner, whenever he goes to the store I can count on at least two phone calls about items on the list that generate questions. I suppose I should be glad that he asks questions, but I find it a bizarro that a man who was a partner in a very successful software company turns into a noodle of indecision and unsurety the moment he steps into Publix.
I mean, if something on the list isn’t on the shelf, I choose a substitute. That’s all there is to it. (I also don’t call him to say that the brand x of chicken is only .69 cents per pound and wouldn’t it be better if I bought that rather than the more expensive organic/free range version…but more on that in a mo.)
At any rate, today’s trip to the stores was no exception in the number of questions I had to field. However, with the second call I was also treated to an opera of outrage.
Apparently someone snagged his cart while he was browsing for dried mushrooms.
Already frustrated at not being able to find even one bag of reconstitutable porcinis (for the stuffing), he then had to hunt all over the store for his cart. Finally, he spotted a suspect — both cart and cart absconder — a lady of advanced years. It appeared to be his cart, he said, but he couldn’t quite tell because of all the crap the “old biddy” had piled on top.
He wanted to say something, wanted his cart back. But, he didn’t. My guess is that laced within the grumbling was the voice of his mother telling him to not make such a big deal over nothing. Dutiful son that he is, SO let it go. And then called me to vent about having to start over.
It’s important to laugh about the little things, like stolen grocery buggies and he strange competition that’s cropped up between him and I when it comes to grocery shopping in general. He contends he’s better at it. I contend that we have different approaches; that it’s an apples to oranges kind of comparison:
I opt for quality, he chooses by price.
I opt for organic and eco-friendly, he chooses what’s on sale or a better price.
I opt for brand familiarity, he chooses on his price-per-pound comfort zone.
What do you know, there’s a pattern! Nobody wins when two people get entrenched in their disparate patterns and won’t budge — be it about chicken, groceries, what you do together on the weekends, finances, doing laundry, whatever.
I suspect that the longer you’re in a relationship the more you realize you never fully graduate from Relationship 101.
