Ripe when yields to gentle pressure

I really enjoy grocery shopping. It's like a hobby for me, really. I don't care so much for going during busy times, but even then I don't mind it too much as long as I'm not in a big hurry. I have now perused the aisles of three stores of the multitudinous Charlottesville grocery chains. I find the atmosphere to be most pleasing at the Giant, but the Kroger is convenient and mostly adequate. (Food Lion was fast relegated to last resort status.) I usually end up at the Kroger (or the "K-Roger" as Britt so daftly calls it). I am beginning to find my way around there. It is so hard to become familiar with the nonsensical arrangements of different grocery stores! It took me three trips just to find the orange juice section. It was adjacent to the paper plates and seasonal items, of course. Why didn't I look there to start with!? About the time I learn where everything is, they will change it, as grocery stores are wont to do. (sigh...)

The produce section really makes or breaks a store for me. I demand high quality produce! And nothing ticks me off quicker than a checker who flings my carefully selected, bruise-free fruits and veggies down the conveyor belt to their doom. That's what the conveyor belt is for--to gently move things along to the little holding yard at the end! (I have scolded many a teen checker. Especially while pregnant. And don't get me started on how NOT to load groceries into my car!) Anyway, produce makes me happy. I love the snap of a good fresh green bean! The produce section has such variety and promise for a lovely meal or two ahead. It has a good aura. It lifts my spirits. And the Kroger people have enhanced my experience by adding lights to simulate lightning and a thunder sound effect right before the water sprayers come on to shower the food! At first I thought this was ridiculous, but now I smile every time it "rains," even if I'm halfway across the store!

My favorite time to shop is late at night when I'm one of the only people there. I feel like I have the store all to myself, my shopping unabated by fellow basket-pushers. I can stand in one place to read labels as long as I want to without getting in someone's way. It's quiet. I can hear my thoughts. There are no stacks of laundry around me or dirty dishes. I guess grocery shopping is a form of escape for me. Kind of like going to a spa for a facial or massage I guess. Just a little retreat where you can do something you like and cast your cares away for a while. I don't enjoy that kind of experience all that much, usually, because I am a bit too practical to really let go. I feel like I should be using my time to get something done. I see the usefulness of it for most people, but I find that I feel idle while being exclusively pampered. (Exception: massage--this provides medical benefits for my back problems, so it is not solely pampering.) That's why grocery shopping is so great for me. It is both relaxing and productive. Who knew something so mundane and necessary could be so therapeutic.