Just Another Day At The Tummy Temple

It was raining this morning, so it was time to sleep in. We need rain like Noah needed fleas.

Finally there was a break so I could make a quick run to the Tummy Temple without passing any dead bodies along the way. It was later than I normally wander so I didn’t see the same sites. It is like how the sun moves in the sky; time presents a different pallet. There is more street graffiti and some big machines have dug some holes and patched them up. There is a black sleek Mercedes sports car on a corner with a ‘For Sale’ sign in the window. Passed a granny with a little one jumping into puddles. The traffic patterns are different so I shift down to Geezer Speed.

After tying up my pony and checking the big black cloud in the sky, I searched for one of the zip wire carts, and then picked up my remote control scanner.

Now my daily shopping does not have a list or coupons. The goal is to wander about the store, checking specials, thinking about what would be the meal for the day, seeing where the food and drink have been moved and avoiding the old people.

Today’s find was the ‘Ball Park’ microwave hamburgers. While the staff was shuffling foodstuff around, I couldn’t find them. I figured it had to be in a freezer but it wasn’t with the other frozen burgers. Today as I weaved back and forth between the Pot Pies and the Ice Cream, I turned around and ZOWIE! There they were. What a prize.

Some soup and the last can of Mrs. Fearnow’s Delicious Brunswick Stew with chicken all scanned with my laser blast. Then it was onto the chips aisle for a can of cocktail peanuts (don’t want to worry the critters about de-shelling peanuts).

There is a new staff at the Tummy Temple and more hustle than I’ve seen in years, but they still haven’t figured it out yet. I have sent some positive comments about good interaction with employees and call them by name (they wear the tags so they have a name).

As the story goes I had to go around to another aisle and then wait for the parade of the dazed and confused, I go back up to retrieve my can of peanuts. A new face I didn’t recognize was restocking and had cardboard boxes all over the aisle blocking traffic and access to my little $1.59 can of peanuts. I reached around the blockade and grab a can. I pulled out my laser machine and scanned the barcode.

Then I noticed I was blocking the space for this elderly to pass, so I tried to zip out of the way. As I was passing by and excusing myself, she asked if I was in ‘Weight Watchers’? If I had been clever enough to say, “I should be” I just looked confused. She said she saw me scanning the can of peanuts. (Think about that. What would someone who is following the ‘Weight Watchers’ be doing in the chips aisle?) I tried to explain to her about the new Scan,Bag,Go! Project and wondered how she evaded the redshirts instructing the newbies how to point and shoot. “Is that your scanner?” she asked certainly unaware of the display at every entrance. “No, it is theirs and I have to give it back”, I replied without getting into the download app for your smart phone.

Zipping away I got my hydration, pointed my laser multiple times and headed for the checkout area. Keith and Chris know my order is the same everyday and after the robot showed my order, came over to confirm that I was older than dirt and I was away.

Other than the cardboard box blockade, things seem to have settled down and become organized. There seems to be a bit more hustle in the new faces, but due to the rain, I stopped and talked to Brian resting in one of the bumper cars. As I waited I see Keith and Chris moving hand held baskets back by the door double-step.

The rain stopped and I moved to wipe off my pony and fill the saddlebags and patiently head for home. On the way I see the granny and the little boy still splashing in puddles.

Something’s never change.