I had a very interesting grocery shopping experience at SunMart the other day. SunMart, in my opinion, is notorious for it’s poor produce section… Suffice to say I’ve ended up with mold on strawberries and wilted green onions on too many occasions. Knowing I only needed items like cereal, eggs and bread, I made the quick trip to SunMart.

Walking through the front doors, apparently I caught the eye of this 30 to 40-something dude. And I’m thinking, darn it! Why haven’t I had my wedding rings repaired yet? (I had them cut off when my arthritis was at it’s worst in May.) This guy looked like he had three young wives back home in Turkey or something so I counted it as a cultural thing that he was openly gazing at me. But then he started to follow me. I’d go into an aisle and he’d go into the same one. I’d move on to another section, he’d walk past on his merry grocery shopping way, and then wait! turn immediately around and pretend to look for something on my aisle. Grrr… I’m a survivor of a previous negative shopping experience, one where I was highly intimidated by a much older man, one who didn’t care one iota that I couldn’t have dinner with him because I was MARRIED. So this time I was prepared to tell SunMart dude to bug off boldly if he tried anything. (Girls, don’t ever be intimidated by creepy guys! Be straightforward and rude if needs be.) This is highly anticlimactic. My apologies. SunMart man purchased his groceries and apparently went home without a fourth wife. My aggression was tempered by the Lady in the checkout lane…

This Lady looked like a victim of Auschwitz. Though I’ve had some experience with women with bulimia or anorexia, I have never never never seen someone is this state. She was ahead of me in line, we were separated only by a young mom and her toddler. The rosy-cheeked, chubby, healthy tot accentuated the utterly starved, skeletal being in front of his cart. It was such an odd experience. I kept racking my brain, wondering if somehow her condition was not self-imposed, that perhaps it was a medical condition. Did she have cancer? I don’t think so. Her skin was almost translucent, cheeks drawn tightly over thin, high cheekbones. Her eyes were enormous behind large, round glasses perched upon her bony, pointed nose. Her teeny shoulders were caving in and her old-fashioned clasp purse seemed like much too much weight for her delicate arms. I was horrified. I wanted to do something desperate, like call 911 or some hotline, but that seemed reactionary and ridiculous. I watched her pay for the three items on the conveyor belt, then walk out of the store. My heart still feels heavy with concern for her. I bought my fatty Pop Tarts and called it a day.

Ugh. SunMart. Whatever your ethnic, economic, religious, health background may be, you’re welcome to shop here. Just don’t expect fresh veggies.