I’d bought and wrapped my gifts long ago, saving me from the hubbub of the malls (I buy most Christmas presents throughout the entire year), but I couldn’t avoid going to the grocery store before the holidays.
Knowing the supermarkets would be packed, I thought Sunday morning might be a good time. Well, I wasn’t early enough. The line at Nitsches’ Meats in Shelby Township ended just inside the door. I’d never been to Nitsches, but it had been highly recommended. Since a whole beef tenderloin was an unheard low price of $10.99. I thought I’d try it. So I stood, waiting patiently in line not even three minutes, when a woman came in behind me and loudly asked, “Did ya’ll already take a ticket?”
Good will
“Yes,” someone shouted and everyone nodded. I mean everyone. Except me. Tickets? What tickets? The woman stepped ahead of me to snatch a ticket from a red ticket thingy on the end of an aisle, and got in line behind me. Seconds later, a man came in and also took a ticket.
“Oops,” I said. I groaned to myself as I stepped out of line to reach for one.
Amazingly, the man behind me gave me his ticket saying “You were here before me.” Right after I thanked him, the woman who’d come in after also gave me her ticket to exchange. “Fair is fair,” she said.
I was impressed. No one asked, “Hold on, are you a Democrat libtard,” or “a Republican…?”
While waiting, I chatted with people who agreed Nitsches had the best meat anywhere. Sundays were the busiest, but “tomorrow,” (two days before Christmas) someone said, “would be hell.” I couldn’t imagine it being more crowded.
Schoko Schaumküsse
Meat order in hand and in line at the register, I reached for a box of German chocolates. “Minis” the box read. They looked cute, the kind of thing my grandkids would gobble up. Me, too. Sadly the writing on the box was in German. (Except minis. There may be a German word for minis but it may be so long it would defeat the purpose of the word!) An elderly woman behind me said with a heavy accent, “Oh, I used to eat those when I was a girl.” They were chocolate kisses, with a wafer on the bottom and a kind of marshmallow fluff inside. “Better than marshmallow, though,” she said, giving me a toothless smile.
I learned she’d lived in Gdańsk during WWII. As we talked about Poland and Germany, she said much of her family left for the US before the war. “They were smart.”
So I put a box of Schoko Schaumküsse in my basket. As we waited, the man behind her said, “That basket looks heavy, ma’am, may I hold it for you?” She thanked him and handed him her basket.
Having fun yet?
At Vince & Joe’s, the majority of shoppers were equally polite. Just a handful of reckless souls with carts rushed around without heed.
I asked a woman picking potatoes, “Do you know potatoes?” She laughed and said, “Well, as good as anyone, I suppose.”
I said “My husband needs golden potatoes for scalloped potatoes, but not the baby ones. Are these white potatoes about the same?”
She told me they were, and added,”Gee, it’s nice your husband cooks.” It is! We ended up talking about the joy of leisurely cooking in retirement vs cooking for a busy family.
Later, as I backtracked down the coffee and tea aisle, a man who’d parked his cart while his spouse ran off for some ingredient jokingly asked me, “Are you having fun yet?” I thought for a moment, and said, “Yes, actually, I am. I don’t mind it at all.”
People seemed extra chatty and happy, and patience was abundant. The long lines became a social event. We were all in this together, celebrating, gathering, gifting. I left for home, smiling.
I hope your holidays are filled with laughter and light. Be well and spread joy. All my best to you!
Linda K. Sienkiewicz is the author of the award-winning novel In the Context of Love, a story about one woman’s need to tell her truth without shame. Discovering who you want to be isn’t easy when you can’t leave the past behind.
2017 New Apple Book Awards Official Selection
2016 Sarton Women’s Fiction Finalist
2016 Eric Hoffer Book Award Finalist
2016 Readers’ Favorite Finalist
2016 USA Book News Best Book Finalist
“…at once a love story, a cautionary tale, and an inspirational journey.” ~ Bonnie Jo Campbell, author of National Book Award Finalist, American Salvage, and critically acclaimed Once Upon a River,and Mothers, Tell Your Daughters
“With tenderness, but without blinking, Linda K. Sienkiewicz turns her eye on the predator-prey savannah of the young and still somehow hopeful.” ~ Jacquelyn Mitchard, author of the #1 NY Times Bestseller, Deep End of the Ocean
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