"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry." ... James 1:19
... and never assume anything!
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This weekend I remembered why I only shop at WalMart, like, once a year.
Tom is now humoring me regarding my Prepping For Anything project, so he and I headed to WalMart to peruse the camping aisle. I gave him a head start there, though, so I could pick up various and sundry other supplies. We arranged to meet at a central spot 15 minutes later.
I took off at breakneck speed, pushing my shopping cart (look out people!) and ran miles all around the place.
Stores not having clocks anymore, (and me always forgetting the nifty watch Naomi gave me), I estimated when 15 minutes had passed, then zoomed to our meeting spot. But Tom wasn't there. So I thought, "I'll race around and find band-aids," then took off again.
That's when it happened. I picked up a band-aid box, turned around and my cart was gone! Disappeared. All those canned goods and tea lights I'd searched for--no more.
My first thought? I must have left the cart a couple aisles over during my detour for hand sanitizer (which I never found). So I checked. No cart anyplace, north, south, east, west.
My second thought? "I can't believe this. Somebody actually stole my cart! I've heard of that happening, but it's never happened to me in all these decades."
Then a worker asked if I needed help and I disbelievingly told her someone had zoomed off with my cart. She helped me search but alas, nothing. I thanked her for helping, then left to find Tom where I told him.
It all felt surreal. And oh, the tug of war! Part of me thought, "People nowadays! You can't trust anyone inside a WalMart." But a calmer voice whispered, "Stay calm. Don't accuse people. You don't know what really happened."
Well, skipping details, blah, blah, blah, I told Tom that we'd just go and shop at Dollar Tree, but I did want to grab a couple cans of meat here, first. I'd meet him at the original meeting spot in five minutes.
And what did I find at that original meeting spot? My shopping cart. Sitting where I'd left it. There with every can and the 200 tea lights I'd placed inside.
Oh. My. Goodness.
That had never happened to me before, either. Gracious. And standing in the aisle I thought:
1.) We're all allowed one glaring senior moment like this and it's no surprise that it happened at a huge, too-busy, too distracting WalMart. So forgive yourself and for heaven's sake, stop worrying about Alzheimer's(!). Just slow down and focus more the next time.
2.) And in the future, be much slower to accuse people without all the facts, first. Believe the best about others and they just might believe the best about you.
Love is always the best way. The better choice.
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"And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. ... Colossians 3:14
"There is no fear in love. Perfect love casts out all fear." ... 1 John 4:18
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Did you know that you if you'll coat the shells of eggs in mineral oil, they'll keep for months, even un-refrigerated? Now, I don't plan on trying the un-refrigerated part, but I will be coating my 3 dozen eggs for $5 this week. How refreshing to pay a decent price for them again!
And here's something else I found fun: you can make a lamp using cooking oil. I'm going to definitely try this to see how much light it puts out, though I'll use fresh oil rather than used.
This prepper education I'm giving myself is feeling like a college course--and I'm so enjoying it!
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Free Kindle Books:
The Rose
The Happiest Season
Crazy Cat Ladies and Why We Do That
Me, Jill Robinson!
Borneo Bound
Oh embarrassing senior moment. I can see that happening in a huge store.
ReplyDeleteHaha. And you TOLD about it!
ReplyDeleteThere is just something about the lighting in those types of stores that I find extremely difficult. It messes with me, and makes me want to hold Steve's hand while we shop. Which just may be why he likes to grocery shop WITHOUT me.
My husband had it happen at TARGET but swears someone took it, not that he left it behind. He had shopped for Christmas items and it had taken some time to gather everything. : / Who knows?
ReplyDeleteI love your cart story!! It's that Walmart influence---it always gets to me, too. When I absolutely MUST go there to shop, I try to go early in the morning, before it's crowded.
ReplyDeleteTerra--yeah, it was embarrassing, but you know? Not too bad. Mostly I treated it like a lesson--to stop rushing, because hurrying through things seldom works out, especially the older we get.:)
ReplyDeleteJudy--aww, what a cute picture, You holding Steve's hand. Loved it. :)
Bonnie--hey! You never know. :) And yes, it's the wasted time I first thought about, even though in my case, it hadn't been much time. But still. :)
Pam--yeah, I'm a bigtime only-in-the-morning shopper, also. What a difference it makes! There weren't a huge amount of people that morning--I think it's the huge amount of *stuff* that gets to me most at Walmart. heh.
Thanks, Everyone! Blessings, Debra