Crock'd

You never know what you’re going to get when you go shopping with Miss Cathy. It’s never going to be like the old days when I’d come visit for a week or more and we’d go shopping. We’d laugh, buy and talk, talk, talk. No, those days are gone, what used to be “normal” has been replaced by the “new-normal”. But, I need to remind myself that it doesn’t mean that it can’t be fun, that sometimes there are sparks of what it used to be like to go shopping together, it’s just different.

What doesn’t vary is that Miss Cathy is now verrrrry slow; slow to get out of the car, slow to walk into the store, slow to make up her mind about a purchase and to pay for it. Any noise or sudden movement usually causes her to stop dead in her tracks till she can decipher what’s going on around her-then she might proceed. It doesn’t matter if she’s in the doorway or the middle of the aisle, she will stop on the threshold or block the flow of traffic so other shoppers cannot get their carts past her.

After being chastised by her several times I have learned to say nothing when this happens and let her deal with the people around her, more often than not they give her a “poor old thing” look and move to accommodate her. All the while she’s pretty oblivious of inconveniencing anyone lese and will usually blame them if challenged.

Anyway, we went to Macy’s not too long ago because she wanted to activate her store charge card. Years ago I’d suggested she get a few credit cards and make small purchases to establish a better credit rating for herself. She’s from that generation that always paid cash when possible and shied away from credit cards, so she was surprised when she found out that can work against you (in some perverse way) with the credit reporting bureaus.

So, off we went to Macy’s to buy a new crock-pot to replace the one that I either threw away or buried so deep in storage that it may as well be in a trash bin. We get to the store and she asks a saleswoman where the crocks pots are, the lady very nicely and (confidently) tells her that they are “straight ahead”. After I thank the saleswoman and we walk away a little and Miss Cathy says, “I want to know where the crock-pots are, are they right or left?”

We haven’t gone far so I’m dumbfounded as to where this is coming from, it’s not like we’ve wondered around the store for hours, we weren’t that far from where we asked the saleswoman for directions. When I remind her that the saleswoman works here she says, “She doesn’t know, I asked where the crock-pots were and she just said ”straight” ahead.”

“So”, I say as gently as possible for someone who wants to take the nearest dress dummy and hit her over he head with it, “Why don’t you just assume that she knows what’s she’s talking about because she works here and you don’t.”

“Just because she works here doesn’t mean she knows everything.” She states as a matter of logic-her logic.

“Okay, have your way, you always do.” I say and walk “straight ahead” right to the crock-pots display.