The system

Well I know you are all savvy enough to know I am not STILL stuck at the store. I believe I left off with my oh so daring decision to get behind the people with the overflowing cart.

I wheeled my cart behind their's and made a comment about how others were too intimidated to do the same. The owner of the cart was a Father/Daughter team. The father just smiled at me and said, “We are fast. We have a system”.

“I knew it!” I thought, rewarding myself. “My powers of deduction are fierce!”

Oh, but not so fast. The Dynamic Duo, had the same challenge as everyone else in line, waiting for the fools in front of them to get through the checkout process in a reasonable amount of time. By the time the people in front of Dad and Daughter pair were unloading their cart, I had used up every patient molecule in my body.

Those people, THOSE PEOPLE, the ones in front of the Dynamic Duo, DID NOT have a system. I watched as they sat their child on the belt (reminiscent of Maggie on the Simpsons intro). His mom then handed him each item, which he would place gingerly in front of him, ONE BY ONE. At first they were all rainbows and kisses. It would've been cute if the rest of the population hadn’t been in line with me for two weeks already. Eventually, the mom and the grandma started fighting over whether or not they should buy sour cream. REALLY!?! You waited in line all this time only to realize you don’t agree on the items to purchase once you are AT the register, with your child ON THE belt having already handed it to him for his delicate placement.

This is when the Dad of the dynamic duo looked back at me and said, “Well, not everyone has a system”.

It was then that I decided I love them.

When the crazy people finally left, I got to see “the system”. It was as quick and coordinated as you could imagine. Not only did they have their own bags, the cart was already organized for bagging. The Dad scanned his credit card and headed to the bagging area. The daughter, obviously a skilled accomplice, started unloading the cart onto the belt in a pre-determined order: Boxes, bags, canned items, other, eggs and bread. Once the daughter was done unloading the cart, they switched places. She started bagging and the Dad came back to take care of the bill. The millisecond the last item was rung through, the stack of coupons was handed to the cashier. She swiped through all of them in what felt like one motion.

He signed for the purchase and looked at me to say “I told you we’d be fast, and she (nodding to the cashier) is the fastest there is”.

Of COURSE they picked the lane with the fastest cashier! I’m sure it’s part of the system. After they left, the cashier looked at me and said, “I love when they come through my line”.

That, my friends, is what I call grocery store love.