Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Since Food 4 Less closed there is really nothing convenient for last minute shopping, except the Asian grocery store around the corner, which despite being about 5 blocks away, I rarely go to.

I rarely go there because the lady at the counter hates me. 
No, really, she appears to hate me, 
I have shopped there over the past fifteen years and each and every time I go into the store she actively snarls and frowns.
 
Today I really needed to pick up something for dinner and I was feeling too lazy to go out and shop so I thought I am going to that really close store and I am going to ignore that mean old lady!
but since having people hate me, or thinking that people hate me, is one of my very worst fears and phobias, I was concerned and not very brave at all, once I got to the front door. 
So I said "Hi!" in the brightest shiniest voice I could muster, and the lady said "YOU NEED HELP!" not like a question, but like a directive, for someone that should be helped, preferably out of her shop.
So I slunk around the canned food aisle and tried avoiding her, which is difficult in such a tiny space. 
For an old woman she is remarkably spry and trots around, well, like she owns the place.

All the produce comes in these prefab packages, which are common in Asian markets, at least in Portland.  Loose produce all bundled up in Styrofoam, or in plastic bags with a little, green, plastic leaf, as if you can't be trusted to chose how many cloves of garlic you might want. 

In the past I have purchased giant bags of bean sprouts, and bamboo shoots, because I happen to be a very rule oriented person and if something comes in a giant bag, by cracky who am I to quibble. 
EXCEPT!
All of the produce is sold by the pound and the package are not from the manufacture, they are bagged up in house, so today, embolden by my hostile greeting, I untwisted one of the bread ties on the bean sprout bag and took a plastic bag from the meat aisle and put the amount of sprouts I wanted to buy into it. HA! 
Then I did the same thing with the baby bok choy. 
Then I boldly walked up to the counter to pay.  The lady took one look at my tiny bag of sprouts and narrowed her eyes, then she picked up the bok choy and said "only TWO?" 
She rang the rest of the order up, made me bag my own groceries and then said "You have a NICE DAY!" in a perfect imitation of what I usually say to her. 

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