I went to the grocery store today. For a state known for its back to nature ideal, they sure have a lot of salted peanuts and sugary snacks. Hedonists! I thought Oregonians ate tree bark and liked it! I thought they had bath tubs that poured out only air-temperature water! I thought they drank only Fair Trade coffee! I thought their world would be free of cigarette smoke!
I thought wrong.
Which brings me to the word "wrong-headed". I think it's funny. I've never looked at anyone and thought, "Well, there's a right-headed thinker." Never thought, "correct-headed" or "good-choice-headed". I've thought of beheaded. And two-headed, I've definitely thought of two-headed. Red-headed step-child. Tow-headed baby. But wrong-headed is just plain silly. In fact, it might even be wrong-headed.
And another wrong headed thing is what happened in the grocery store. I was looking at the crackers and a fellow said, "Excuse me, I have a lot of money left on my Oregon Trail card. I can only use it for food and housing. Would you let me buy your groceries and you could pay me fifty cents on the dollar? For example, you could buy $50 in groceries, I'd pay for it with my card, and you'd give me $25 dollars."
Why would someone want to save me money? Where's this money coming from, anyway? What's the scoop here?
I told him no and he said that I'd save a lot of money if I'd just let him buy the groceries. I told him someone else would be happy to save money, then.
I asked the cashier what an Oregon Trail card is. He said it's state sponsored food money. And when he found out I'd been offered the benefit of the Oregon Trail card, he asked what he looked like and said he would turn him in.
Yo! I felt guilty for a second, but decided I hadn't done anything wrong. I'd have felt more guilty if I had taken advantage of the state of Oregon. They already have free bus and street car stuff for me. Geez. Free food might be just a bit too much.
And why couldn't he have come up to me in a good market? The one I was in was lackluster, I must say. Not a bit of tree bark. It wouldn't be worth breaking the law for Twinkies, now would it?
Posted by dotty at July 8, 2003 11:59 PM