Bag Lady

Yesterday at Wal-Mart I had a lovely encounter with a cute old lady. As I was grabbing a bag of celery, she stopped me and said, "Now do you know how to pick good celery?" I thought for a mintue. I know how to pick out good produce in just about every category-but not celery! And though celery is not usually the determining ingredient in many receipes, I thought it might be a good time to learn. So she told me that good celery is found purely by weight. After watching her give me SEVERAL examples (and a pop quiz) of right and wrong celeries, she marched me over to the freezers. She said, "This world is getting crazier and crazier! The price of peppers is 10 cents higher than it was last year!" I did realize the price of peppers had gone up but not enough to avoid them completely. So she showed me a frozen bag of cut, mixed peppers for a dollar 37. She had me smell the bag (which smelled really good), and guarunteed that what the picture diplayed on the bag was exactly what I would get inside. None of this marketing hanky panky that runs wildly out of control on some packaging. I was actually grateful because I am picky over what I buy frozen vs. fresh. Anyway, the peppers are great and it eliminates any waste. As we walked out of the aisle, she yelled over to the freezer re-stocking lady, "Just converted another one." I wondered how many women she had shared this tid-bit with. I thanked her and as I went on my way, with a wink she said, " We women have to stick together." What a darling woman she is! One day I hope to be that little old lady in Wal-Mart. And I think my focus will be something like eggplant...