I can’t remember the last time I was in a department store.
Or a clothing store, a shoe store, a hardware store, a furniture store, a book store, a jewelry store, a toy store.
Because I do all of my shopping online.
Well, except for groceries.
I do my grocery shopping at a grocery store.
This post was written for the In Other Words prompt from Patricia’s Place. The challenge this week is to write a story or poem of five lines or fewer using the word “shopping.”
I am so happy! You may recall that exactly two months ago today, I wrote a rather whiny post in which I lamented the apparent disappearance of my favorite breakfast cereal, Total, from the cereal aisle at all of my local grocery stores. I was devastated and was forced to go on an exhaustive search for a replacement breakfast cereal.
And you may also recall a post I wrote about two weeks later in which I announced that I had rediscovered Wheaties, which, while not my beloved Total, could serve as a suitable substitute. Still, I missed Total.
Well, guess what? I went to my local grocery store today and look what I saw staring back at me in the cereal aisle.
I was so excited that I bought four boxes. Four! You know, just in case this was a mistake and they won’t restock Total once this batch is sold out.
I’m a breakfast cereal kind of a guy. Most mornings I fill my bowl with dry cereal, add some raisins, some blueberries, and a sliced banana. Then I pour milk over it all and, well, yum!
For many years my favorite cereal was Just Right. 
It was a nutritious mix of crispy flakes of wheat, corn, and rice with raisins, dates, and almonds. But then I noticed that Just Right was getting harder and harder to find at the local grocery store. Until it just stopped showing up at all in the cereal aisles at any of my local food emporiums.
It turned out that Kellogg’s, that venerable purveyor of breakfast foods, particularly cold cereals, decided a number of years back (2007) to no longer manufacture and sell Just Right. What?!?
So then, after exhaustively searching for a replacement for my beloved Just Right, I finally found a new cold cereal, this time from that other purveyor of cereals, General Mills. This cereal, Total, became my new breakfast favorite.
Total has “all the wholesome goodness and nutty flavor of 100 percent whole grain wheat flakes with 100 percent of the Daily value of 12 vitamins and minerals you will need all day long.”
But lo and behold, Total has been totally missing from the grocery shelves for the past few weeks. I went to the General Mills website and Total still shows up there. But when I went to the Amazon, Wal-Mart, and Target websites, they all listed Total as either “not available” or “out of stock.” One website did have a box of Total available, but the price was $20 plus shipping. Fuhgedabouddit.
So here we go again, in search of a new breakfast cereal.
This week’s WordPress Photo Challenge asks us to show something (or someone) sweet.
There is this delectable bakery that is located inside my local grocery store. It’s positioned so that you have to pass it when you enter or exit the store.
I’m sorry, but that’s just not playing fair. There are too many sweet — and fattening — treats to pass up. I often end up picking up something sweet — and fattening — before I leave the store.
So, to take my mind off of those edible sweets, I thought I’d focus on some even more delectable kinds of sweet treats. And they’re not at all fattening.
“Hello again,” he said to Carolyn as she walked past the produce aisle at the grocery store.
Carolyn looked up at the man. He was a decent looking guy, although she was pretty sure he was younger than she was. “Do I know you?” she asked.
“I saw you over at the canned goods aisle, remember? I asked you about tuna fish,” he explained.
“Oh, okay. Well, hello again,” she said congenially, although she had no recollection of having seen him before.
“I couldn’t help admiring the size of your melons,” he said.
“Excuse me?” she said, shocked. She quickly glanced down at her chest to see if something was not quite right.
“You honeydew melons,” he said. “They are just the right size.”
“Thank you, I guess,” Carolyn answered, not sure if he was being genuine or if she was being played.
“Do you know where they keep the pomegranates?” he asked. “I love to open them up and scoop out the those jewel-like seeds with my tongue.”
Now there was no question in Carolyn’s mind that this guy was playing her by using sexual innuendos and double entendres in a lame attempt to seduce her. She was somewhat flattered, but, at the same time, highly offended.
“I’m not sure, but I think they may keep the pomegranates in the display case over there,” she said pointing. “Right next to where the security guard is standing.”
The guy looked at his watch, back up at Carolyn, and said, “Oh my, will you look at the time. I gotta split, but maybe we’ll run into each other at another time.” He quickly left the store, leaving his half-full grocery cart abandoned in the middle of the aisle.
Written for this week’s Manic Monday challenge from Sandi, where the prompt is the song title, “Hello Again” by the Cars.
