Once again Tabor encounters an eye-opening cultural event as she runs errands. This time she was in the local Target department store trying to find lip gloss among other items. I love Burts Bee's colored lip balm and no longer use lipstick since I discovered it.
I reached an aisle that was crowded with a young mother and her toddler sitting in a shopping cart. At the other end of the aisle was a man in his 70's, well dressed, with a paper list in his hands. He was scanning the shelves with a frown on his face. The young mother carefully worked her way past him as she selected something from the shelf on the other side. I was scanning the shelves as I approached slowly.
Suddenly he lifted his head and said in a rather loud voice, "Can you ladies help me?"
We both looked up accommodatingly.
"Do you know where the bar soap is?"
I looked down to the lower shelves just beside me and pointed as it was filled with various brands of bar soap.
"Okay, can you tell me where the Dove bar soap is?" he continued.
I hesitated, and then the young mother pointed just beyond me and said, "It is over there at the end of the shelf."
He smiled and moved slowly in that direction as we both moved down the aisle in the opposite direction.
He turned to us after we passed and said, "My wife has broken her ankle and I have to do all this shopping!" He groaned and then added, "Maybe I should just take her out to the back yard and hose her off and be done with all this soap!"
I explained that I had hurt my ankle recently and my husband had taken on the cooking, cleaning and everything else for several months.
He smiled. "I can cook, I just hate these errands and looking for all this silly stuff."
I moved on to the next aisle thinking how lucky I was to be married to someone who was adaptable and didn't consider bath soap silly!
I reached an aisle that was crowded with a young mother and her toddler sitting in a shopping cart. At the other end of the aisle was a man in his 70's, well dressed, with a paper list in his hands. He was scanning the shelves with a frown on his face. The young mother carefully worked her way past him as she selected something from the shelf on the other side. I was scanning the shelves as I approached slowly.
Suddenly he lifted his head and said in a rather loud voice, "Can you ladies help me?"
We both looked up accommodatingly.
"Do you know where the bar soap is?"
I looked down to the lower shelves just beside me and pointed as it was filled with various brands of bar soap.
"Okay, can you tell me where the Dove bar soap is?" he continued.
I hesitated, and then the young mother pointed just beyond me and said, "It is over there at the end of the shelf."
He smiled and moved slowly in that direction as we both moved down the aisle in the opposite direction.
He turned to us after we passed and said, "My wife has broken her ankle and I have to do all this shopping!" He groaned and then added, "Maybe I should just take her out to the back yard and hose her off and be done with all this soap!"
I explained that I had hurt my ankle recently and my husband had taken on the cooking, cleaning and everything else for several months.
He smiled. "I can cook, I just hate these errands and looking for all this silly stuff."
I moved on to the next aisle thinking how lucky I was to be married to someone who was adaptable and didn't consider bath soap silly!
Oh, bath soap certainly isn't silly when part of you is encased in something.
ReplyDeleteWonder what he washes with if not bar soap???
ReplyDeleteSome of us are pretty lucky aren't we?
ReplyDeleteI'm lucky in the same way you are.
ReplyDeleteMaybe this fellow will appreciate his wife a little more after he goes about all of the errands she always took care of? Hope so.
Maybe he is one of those people who grumbles his way through the day!
ReplyDeleteHow cute is that but definitely a curmudgeon!!! Ha!!
ReplyDeleteHugs
SueAnn
I'm sure it was just the girly Dove bar that he objected to...lucky his wife is past the monthly cycle..imagine if he had to buy those sanitary items? LOL
ReplyDeleteThis post made me laugh, really. Just a blip in time but you told it so well and now I feel like I know that man, and like you I feel lucky to have a man that doesn't think soap is silly. Although I don't know if he's ever bought a bar himself and he puts the toilet paper backwards on the roll! He would never say he should hose me off!
ReplyDeletehe probably prefers another brand :D
ReplyDeleteSure he wasn't coming on to you? Anyway, he had to tell you it was for his wife, lest you think he was some sort of sissy man who used Dove soap.
ReplyDeleteRYN: Oh, I truly love lazy unplanned days, but then my body stops working and I can't walk. The pool get's me walking, school keeps my mind stirred up, and the cancer society keeps my focus on others. Then again.... LOL
ReplyDeletePS: Yes, I think that's the best rose yet. :)
ReplyDeleteWell, I want to get some of that lip stuff. That sounds like good stuff.
ReplyDeleteWhen you get as old as Jerry and me the dermatologist tells you to stop using soap because it drys your skin.
laughing - if he let the poor woman spend several days without a bath, he might not think soap was so silly ;)
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog thanks to The Smitten Image and I think it's great. I've been married long enough to understand the importance of bath soap. I hope you'll visit me at Chubby Chatterbox. If you do, press the join button and I'll return the compliment. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteChubby Chatterbox
Yes, I agree with you! David does all the shopping now that I am incapacitated.
ReplyDeletewow, he might be out of his depth for life skills but why so curmudgeonly about it?
ReplyDeleteMen shopping always reminds me of the time I sent Ron to buy a dress for me. I described the dress and told him it was an 18W. He went in the store and asked where to find the "Wide" clothes not knowing the "W" stood for Women's. LOL
ReplyDeleteWhat a curmudgeon. And why is it that men can't look for things?
ReplyDeletePoor little helpless man. What's a guy to do? Good thing you strong women took pity on him. ;)
ReplyDeleteI think the old chap was looking for a bit of sympathy (they do, you know?) as well as a pat on the back for doing the errands anyway.
ReplyDeleteBesides, he had an audience of two attractive ladies!
My oldest brother never did anything around the house to help Evelyn.. She cooked, cleaned, shopped, etc....
ReplyDeleteWELL--she died first and he was totally LOST... He eventually went into a nursing home.. Then he died soon after.
I am so lucky to have a man in my life who helps with everything... He could easily take over if something happened to me...Thank Goodness for that...
Hugs,
Betsy
I think he was just trying to be funny. But then again, you never know.
ReplyDelete