I found myself entering Aldi by chance one day in December, only because I was near. I had not planned this trip so my grocery bags were not in hand, but i only needed a few items. I carried my box of juices, some paper plates and forks for the basketball team dinner, a last minute stocking stuffer and a jar of feta stuffed olives that my tummy couldn’t pass up.
Depositing my items in the belt to be scanned with zero problems, I hear the cashier ask if I wanted to purchase a bag. Thought about it and decided against it because I had just walked down the aisles with no problems and I already had a ton of bags at home, I politely declined.
My items were not stacked exactly as I had them previously, but it was a short walk to the truck. I walked through the automatic doors, turned to my left and the heavy wind hit the oversized Reese’s stocking stuffer and blew it right off of my stack of items.
Without a thought in my head, I knelt down to retrieve it and then wondered how I was going to get back up. Here’s the thing with having three major joints fused. You just don’t work like you used to. I don’t believe my fused pelvis was that much of an issue, but by George those bilaterally fused ankles sure were. I have a hard enough time rising from the ground with no items in my hands, I couldn’t believe I’d made such a silly mistake.
Using all of the strength that I had, I pushed my knees in towards each other and pushed upwards. It was more than slightly awkward and as I rose with my blood rushed face of exertion, the cashier looked at me strangely.
Turning again to leave the doors opened and that blasted wind took the box of lightly weighted forks. To the floor I knelt again. This time I was close enough to the glass wall that I leaned my left shoulder up against it and shimmied my way to standing again. Turning to the automatic door the wind took the paper plates this time. Every curse word that I’ve ever learned was said in my head all at the same moment. Again close to the wall, there was a small part of the frame between the glass windows that I hooked my left elbow on and pushed like heck and got myself to standing again. With complete physical and emotional exhaustion I glanced to my right and the cashier was in complete awe of what was happening in front of her. Her looked of complete confusion was nearly humorous had I been able to feel any humor at all at that point.
With my arms wrapped around the items and my neck and chin holding the items down I head out into the cursed wind. Was it really this windy when I arrived? Twenty yards to the truck. Ten feet in, the blast of air took the Reese’s and the plates. Glancing from those items to the truck, I judged the distance from the curb to the truck wondering if anyone would steal my items before I returned, I decided to drop the other items to the curb. In the process of attempting to sit on the curb with my stupid grocery items and cry in Aldi’s parking lot, a gentlemen came to me and said, ” I see you are having some trouble today.” Only a little, partner, I thought.
He helped me to my feet and stacked my items for me. As I placed my items in the back seat, I asked God, why when the last few weeks had been so challenging, so messed up and painful due to a medication mix up, why would He choose now to teach me some sort of lesson. So I asked just that! “What possible lesson am I supposed to learn from this and why today?” The answer came quickly and bluntly.
He said, ” You should have just bought the bag Carey.”