It was a day of letting go, patience, and slow life. I stopped by the regular grocery store after a sunny morning coffee at the Place Where You Meet Everyone. You’ve been there. I saw you! The little organic grocery, deli, and community place. It’s the place to go if you want fresh organic food, beautiful coffee, and warm connections with interesting on-the-edge people.
Refreshed and ready for mundane pantry-filling of the few, very few, things the Place Where You Meet Everyone could not provide, I stopped by the Food Mart, or possibly Food Fair, or even Food Store. They have frozen, local, bison burgers.
Oh, you thought I was vegan? No. I’ve just never particularly liked meat, and I definitely don’t like cruelty. But I do struggle with anemia, so I fill up on bison burgers a couple of times a month. Easy to cook (my days with a glass of wine in a kitchen filled with exotic fragrances and bubbling pots are on a long pause) and they fill me up for days.
So I picked up two packages and wandered over to the checkout line, said hello to my neighbours, waited my turn on my day of letting it go.
“Oh, dear,” said the woman working the till. “These have different prices. I’ll send someone to check. Do you mind waiting, dear?” I didn’t even mind being called dear; not by an old dear who meant it, and not on that day of slow patience.
The price problem took time to resolve, and I stood aside to let waiting customers pay and go their way. Finally, someone called the woman at the till and spoke to her on the phone. With concern, the woman turned to me to explain.
“They aren’t $5 a package,” she said, anxiously.
No, they never are. I didn’t look at the price when I picked them up.
“That one was a mistake. They’re both $15.” She looked so worried, but I didn’t understand why.
“Ok.” I got out my card to pay, but she hesitated about scanning the $15 price tags.
“Are you sure? They’re very expensive! $15! Ground beef is way cheaper.”
“Yes,” I smile. “They’ve very good though and fill you up a lot faster than regular ground beef.” Unhappy beef bereft of any nutrients along with the poor cow’s dignity.
“Really?” she said. “I didn’t know that.” She scanned one in and paused to question again. “How many would you say you’d eat at once to be full? Two?”
“Half if I’ve got some salad or veg. Never more than one.”
She scanned in the second one, doing the math. “So that’s really not so expensive, and I’ve heard it’s way better quality meat and the animals are happier.”
“All true,” I said.
Such a small thing. But it’s stayed in my mind for days. How often is some small conversation that almost didn’t happen a moment that changes a small thing in someone’s life? And sometimes it leads to a big thing. Sometimes not. That’s okay. It’s the small, everyday things that you remember.