It's the pickles; I swear!

Let me preface this blog post by saying I have never done this before.  

Yeah, yeah, I know what you're thinking.  That truly sounds like a line of BS.  But seriously, what I'm about to describe to you can all be attributed to pickles.  :-)

I've lost my mind.  Figured it would happen, but figured it would be after the race.  Nope - it was today, and it was at Publix.  So here's the deal: I've got to hit the road early tomorrow and wanted to get in some last-minute shopping for food to bring for the race.  I had my list: granola bars, yogurt, bread, bananas, and pickles.  Are you asking yourself, "Why pickles, of all things?!"  I assure you, there's a really good reason, although I'm not 100% sure what it is.  (Probably the sodium...but that's not the point...yet.)  I'm not really a pickle person.  I like 'em on sandwiches (that I don't have to make), but I don't like 'em enough to buy a jar to have in the fridge.  The next time you're at Publix (or whatever your local grocery store is), swing by the pickle isle and check out how many kinds there are!  It's mind-blowing!  Do I want Kosher pickles?  Should they be dill pickles?  Do I want the long sliced ones or the round sliced ones?  Garlic or no garlic?  Sweet or not sweet?  See what I mean!  This is tough!  At the point of pickle indecision, I had three things in my cart already: turkey, ham, and bananas.  I had to move my cart down the isle because there was a lady waiting to get through and the isle was blocked by me and another group of people.  (They weren't searching the pickle section, in case you're wondering.)  Apparently, after moving my cart and letting this other shopper pass, I went back to the pickles, fiiiiiiiiiiiinally made my decision, put the pickles in the cart, and continued with my shopping.  Did you notice that?  I said "in the cart" and not "in my cart."  I'm sure you see where this is heading.

Confident in my pickle selection and wanting to get the rest of the shopping done quickly, I kept moving.  Got my granola bars, picked up a loaf of white bread, and was headed to get yogurt when it finally hit me.  There was a chocolate fudge cream pie in the front of the cart!  It was staring right at me!  It was beautiful, and, I'm sure, it would be delicious!  The problem, however, was that I never put a chocolate fudge cream pie into my cart.  OMG - I had grabbed someone else's cart and not even realized it...until now!  You must be saying, "But Kim, what was your first thought?!"  It was that I needed to find my turkey & ham because I did not want to go back to the deli!!!  (The deli is the bane of my grocery store existence.)

As luck would have it, I spotted a shopping cart not 15 feet away that had another chocolate fudge cream pie in it.  What are the chances that it could be a different shopper?  Upon closer inspection (but without looking like I'm stalking them), I saw lettuce and salsa!  Those were the other "non-Kim" items that were in the cart currently in my possession.  I think I found the original owner!

It's pretty embarrassing to have to say to someone "I think I accidentally took your cart."  It's even more embarrassing to hear the guy say "yeah, that's ok, we just got another and got all of our stuff again."  He even walked me back to where my cart (with the turkey, ham, and bananas) was still waiting for me!  Despite apologizing profusely, I'm sure many stories will be told by him and his 2 companions of the crazy lady at Publix who took his cart & his groceries!

Bringing this story back around to where I had hoped to go, the good news is that I think my pre-race food shopping is almost complete!  I've got a case of Gatorade, sourdough pretzels, Planters nuts, bananas, granola bars, yogurt, bread (for the soon-to-be-made PB&J sandwiches), and yes, pickles too!  Have I left anything out?  I hope not!  The last thing I need is to end up accidentally taking yet another customer's cart!!!  :-)