Where Everybody Knows Your Business

Remember that theme song from Cheers? The part where it said, "Where everybody knows your name." Around here, we kind of have our own Cheers, but it's not a bar. It's a grocery store. Save A Lot. Where everybody knows your business.

Oh, don't think about walking in the store and buying something and walking out. No siree, Bob! You're not gettin' out of that place without somebody giving you advice or a compliment or maybe both. Just try standing in line inconspicuously, making a purchase, without being noticed. Uh uh. Ain't happenin'. I hope criminals know not to go in Save A Lot to get items for use in committing their crimes. Somebody's gonna comment on those items. And give advice.

Take my snack purchase, for instance. I have a new treat that I enjoy after supper. Ice cream. Not the birthday cake ice cream cup. It's out of rotation for the moment, in favor of a new single serving that's twice as big. Not that such a thing is a factor, of course. It's the flavor. The change.

I actually have three favorite flavors in this brand. Caramel Delight. Mint Chip. Chocolate. There may be more, but these three, along with icky plain vanilla, are all Save A Lot carries. I haven't seen them in any other store, except for Country Mart once, and they looked like left-over freezer-burned items they were trying to get rid of.

I switched lanes when the checker called for backup. The new checker was the mother of one of my former students. We have a nod-and-speak relationship.

"Ooh...aren't these GOOD?"

"I know, right?"

"And they're just enough."

"That's exactly why I buy them!"

"Yeah. I can't stop."

"The big one would be cheaper, but then I'd eat the whole big one!"

The man in line inserted himself into our intimate conversation. "Isn't THAT the truth! My son had some ice cream last night, and I said, 'Leave it out, I'll have some too.' I just poured chocolate syrup in the tub, and went out of the kitchen eating it with a spoon."

That's the thing about Hillmomba. Everybody's your buddy. None of this aloof and snooty stuff here. Unless they're Millennials, of course. Nope. Nobody considers it rude to get all up in your business while waiting in line. They just join in. Like family.

Good thing I wasn't buying Preparation H.