In Which I Am Not Mindful While Shopping In The Grocery Store

/ Ally Bean

I found myself with an hour of free time late in the afternoon.  As I was already out & about I decided to run into Kroger to pick up a few things.  Because I wasn’t planning on going there, I didn’t have my shopping list with me.

I knew that I needed 6 items to make what I had in mind for dinner, so I decided to assign each ingredient to a finger/thumb.  The result of this impromptu shopping list was that I looked like a child counting on my fingers as I shopped.  Goofy as it was, my finger list did work.  BUT it also meant that I started pushing my cart, a large one, with one hand.

And if there is anything that you must remember about me, it is that I am not too coordinated.  Clumsy, even.

Thus, it will come as no surprise when I tell you that while counting on one hand and pushing the cart with my other hand I managed to block a produce aisle with my catty-wampus, slightly out-of-control cart.

I knew immediately that I was in the way.  Pretty much because I heard the metal clank of my cart bumping another cart head-on.  It’s a sound one recognizes even while staring at one’s fingers and thumb.

I looked up ready to offer an apology when I  realized that the woman who I’d inconvenienced was Lilias Folan.  As in someone famous.  As in someone with a nationally syndicated PBS TV show.  As in the woman who is sometimes credited with introducing yoga to the USA.

Yep, that’s who I bashed into in the grocery produce department.  Good job, Ms. Bean.

But here’s the thing, Lilias was just standing there with a kind smile on her face waiting for the crazy lady [moi] to get out of her way.  She had no where to back up to, so her choice was to be patient OR to get angry.  And because she was living her life off the mat as she did on the mat, she chose the former.

Of course, me being me, after I said that I was sorry I tried to explain myself by babbling about fingers and no shopping list and dinner– et cetera, et cetera.  And my dithery explanation, I’m happy to report, got Lilias laughing.

This made me feel better about my screw-up and got me thinking that it’s time for me to get back into yoga because I want to be that older woman with perfect posture, a calm aura & the ability to laugh when things go wrong.

And who better to emulate than Lilias?  The bumpee in my brush bump with greatness.

20 thoughts on “In Which I Am Not Mindful While Shopping In The Grocery Store”

  1. Well, it took me 3 re-publishings of this post to get WP to do what I wanted it to do so that this post says what I want it to say. [I hope.] I never know when– or why– this system decides to act up. Just like a cranky toddler. Perhaps WP needs to be put down for a nap! 😉

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  2. I wish our local grocery stores were as interesting as yours – so many cool things seem to happen to you while you are out shopping. I just get hot and flustered and want to go home. If you have to bump into someone, better a vision of calmness than someone on a short fuse. 🙂

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    • Polly, you are right about that one. I’ll take a happy, calm person over an angry, arrogant person any day of the week. Especially when the situation is all my fault.

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  4. And I thought from the title that this was going to be a post about how the cookies mysteriously ended up in your cart! Rather a fun encounter overall. I was just thinking about yoga the other day. I had a wheelchair yoga dvd a while ago which was just insane but the least I could do is practice some of the postures and the breathing – which would likely be helpful.

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    • Zazzy, from my memory of yoga everything about it is postures/alignment + breathing/awareness. I bet that both of us could benefit from focusing on those practices. Well, at least, I think that we’ve established that I could. 😉

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    • la p, thanks. Talk about being surprised! I have had some other brushes with greatness, but this one was the most impactful, I suppose you could say.

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  6. I use the figure trick too! In many aspects of my life. Like the 4 things I need to do before I head out the door. The 6 things I need to remember to bring on vacation, etc.

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    • robin, glad to know that I’m not the only adult counting on my fingers as I go through life! It’s effective, but you do look silly as you’re doing it.

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  7. Here’s a funny thing: I’ve been thinking seriously about starting yoga at a local studio. I haven’t quite committed to it because…I don’t really know anything about yoga. But your story of being inspired by a yoga star might just be the sign I needed to just go for it. And so Lilias’ grace reaches far beyond the grocery aisle 🙂

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    • Stephanie, I’ve taken yoga classes off & on since I was I college. When the teacher is good, yoga is wonderful. However, the reverse of this is true, too. So if your first teacher isn’t all that, try another class. I bet that you’ll like yoga. Very fun, really.

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  8. She sounds lovely,but I still hate yoga. 🙂 I make strange visuals in my head as a memory device. Like drinking beer with vitamins floating around in it while sticking carrots in my nose. Hey, it really works!

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