About 40 minutes later I had a cart entirely stocked full of everything from whole wheat egg noodles to organic body wash. At this point I realized I needed to head for the check out and get on my way. Now, I don't know why, but at some Save On More stores they only have those extremely short tills, the kind you see in the express line. My cashier was friendly and really great but it still took about 10 minutes just to load and check out all my stuff. Unfortunately I was already running a bit behind schedule so I piled my bags in the cart until they were literally heaping over to the point where I was pushing the cart with one hand, steering with my hip and using the other hand to secure one of my heaviest bags and a 11 lb sack of onions. It was quite the sight!
I scuttling across the parking lot as fast as I can manage and instantly regret parking as far away as I did. I'm thankful that the parking lot has been plowed and, in combination with the days it broke above 0 degrees, the lot was mostly clear. That was what I thought at least until I tried to maneuver my rickety cart over the lumps and bumps of solid ice. Now, I might add that this cart already has it's fair share of quarks and troubles; you know, one of those that seems to bank to the right without cause and frequently one wheel stalls all together for no apparent reason. Now imagine taking that from slushy pavement onto gravelly mounds of ice that range from all shapes and heights. It was not a pretty sigh. In a few moments my cart began to wobble and, despite my best attempts, it toppled over with a bang. On it's way down, I desperately attempted to counter the fall so once the cart hit the ground, my feet were slipping back and forth on the icy ground until I too came down with a crash....slide....crash some more....slide some more. It was one of the moments in life when time seems to stand still and you awareness is heightened to every movement going on around you. It seemed that my actions would have appeared the same as what a cartoon slipping on a banana peel looks like. Yah, real classy. As I laid on the dirty, cold ground, helpless sprawled up on my stomach, I looked to my side and sighed at the sight of my $300 worth of groceries strewn across the parking lot. Until this point, I didn't even think it was possible for a cart to just fall over like that. It's a good thing this isn't a common experience because it was completely impossible for me to get it right side up again on my own. Thankfully after a few minutes of me struggling, someone came over and helped me lift it up. I was surprised it took this long because it was just such a sad sight seeing me tugging and pulling, with no avail, at the lifeless cart accompanied by rolling onions and strewn cereal.
I finally get my stuff into the car and viciously roll the, now empty, cart back to its chain. I'm not sad to see it go. Once I get into the car and take a look at the receipt, I realize it wasn't even 15% Tuesday, which disappointed me because my whole cart ordeal had seemed worth it because it saved me almost $30! Turns out it was just another day and I had stocked up like it was Y2K. I look at my watch and it's five minutes after when I'm suppose to be tutoring and I still have a 20 minute drive ahead of me.
Looking back now I can laugh at the situation but it definitely wasn't funny to me then, in fact, I was quite frazzled and upset. Thankfully Josh was home from work and was able to remind me that spilling the groceries and not saving that 15% wasn't a big deal or worth being upset over. At least I can say I've now learned a few lessons: check and double check when the first Tuesday or the month is, and don't attempt to take a full cart onto icy roads alone because it will never end well!
-S
oh sam!! I feel for you!! I remember 15% tuesdays at save-on-foods! its unfortunate you werent there on a real 15% tuesday cuz they have that cookie station sometimes! Glad someone was there and that Josh made you feel better!
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