The clock is moving toward supper time. Looks like I spaced when reading my new soup recipe – it’s calling for spinach, lemon and scallions. I could have fudged the recipe but then I’d never know what it would really taste like. So I make a flying trip to a store nearby that I seldom frequent. Where on earth are the scallions hiding? I finally ask the produce clerk who points vaguely toward the green stuff. Embarrassed, I squint and pretend to see them. Oh, there they are. I grab a bunch and head for the lemons when I am suddenly swamped by a torrent of conspiracy theories. The clerk can’t stop himself. “No one believes me, but they will find out”. He’s on automatic pilot. It takes me a few moments to extricate myself.
Slightly flummoxed, I proceed to the self checkout and for whatever reason, find the visual display strangely baffling. The young supervisor nearby comes to my rescue, at which point I discover the rotten spot on the lemon and run to fetch another, sneaking behind my conspiracy theorist pal. At last I’m walking out with my gatherings, when I hear a voice behind me, tinged with urgency. “Ma’am, you forgot your cash!” $80.00. Can’t believe it. As I pass the young man on my second exit, I just have to comment. “Would you believe I have a Master’s Degree?” Yes, he grins, and somehow it’s OK.
The soup was worth it, I’d say.
