It was at that moment Jerry realized one thing: he hated himself.
He hated himself, and he hated the grocery line he was standing in.
It was long, curvy, and packed seven carts deep with the other idiots who thought, ‘Sunday is a mighty fine day to go grocery shopping.’
Fucking twats- the lot of them.
The idiots who stood before him had grocery carts that resembled avalanches. Their carts were a jumbled mess of random cereal boxes, paper towels, tomato cans, and meat wrapped in plastic, with the red, smooshed juices running everywhere.
And they were piled sky high, like an edible skyscraper. And in one particularly overstuffed cart, he thought he could make out the darkened silhouette of a store employee buried beneath a box of cheez-its.
Apparently, they were going home too.
Jerry stood at the end of the line with a cart much smaller. It was filled with just the essentials. Eggs, bread, lunch meat. Nothing crazy.
And because he had less – significantly less, while everyone had more, significantly more, it gave him a false sense of entitlement. Despite coming to the checkout line later, he reasoned he should be allowed to go first. And this drove him crazy.
He tilted his head left and right, trying to get a better look at the sonofabitchs slowing the line down. He figured if he could just see the faces of the bastards in front of him, it would mean something.
He logically wasn’t sure what it would mean, but he left logic behind the moment he decided to go shopping on a Sunday. He was in unexplored territory now.
But still, he held on to a glimmer of hope. He figured you need hope in dark moments, and this moment felt like midnight. And he hoped by seeing the people in the line, really seeing them, would provide a level of comfort.
So Jerry stood still, making note of every bald spot, blemish, and bad haircut, and wove together a backstory for each idiot like a detective hot on the case. With each cart analyzed for its contents, he felt he was one thread closer to unraveling the mystery of who was in front of him.
The first cart he noticed was filled with carrots. He immediately wondered, who in the Hell needs that many carrots? He’d been alive for 41 years and could count the times he bought carrots on one hand. And if he could go without a carrot, well, shit, maybe you could too. He wrote the idiot off on the spot.
The next cart was filled with nothing short of 128 cans of soda. Jerry lowered his eyes. He pictured pouring all the soda into a large container and throwing a CD in to see if it melted. If it did, he thought about throwing everyone’s groceries into the vat to speed up the line. He’d call it the express lane.
Then, a few carts down the line, a couple stood reading a People magazine.
He noticed the headline. “Celebrities, they’re just like us,” and wondered if any celebrity felt like blowing their brains out after standing in a long grocery line. If they did, he’d call People up and pitch a new section. The new headline would read, “Celebrities, they’re just like Jerry.”
He carried his gaze to the cash register. Standing behind the apron was a young man who seemed to be just as annoyed as Jerry. He chewed gum and moved the piece from one side of his mouth to the other, faking interest in small talk.
“Oh, did you find everything ok?”
“Yep – that’s why I’m in line.”
The cashier nodded, accepting the fault in his questioning, and kept scanning.
Annoyed, Jerry mentally returned to his little corner of the line, stuck his hand into the front pocket of his hoodie, and felt a familiar distraction.
The smooth case of his cell phone rubbed against his fingers, and he could feel the protruding nobs of the volume-up button. A smile grew across his face.
He pulled out his phone, more than happy to distract himself from the world, when reality hit him harder than an uppercut from Mike Tyson.
No signal.
Fuck.
His cell phone was now more useless than the idiots standing before him.
Worse yet, a frantic ding, ding, ding came screeching from the cash register.
Each ding amplified the anxiety like a chemical reaction in a science experiment.
“Sir, I can’t seem to find the price – I’ll have to enter this manually.” The cashier announced rather mutedly.
Aww, fuck! Jerry sighed.
And then, pandemonium hit.
It’s $2.99! A cry broke out from somewhere near the center of the line. Apprently, he was fed up too.
No- it’s $2.97, a lady pleaded – with a rather convincing tone.
You’re all wrong – it’s free if he can’t find the price!
The cheap bastard smiled and raised his eyebrows in a see-what-I-mean kind of way, trying to gather who was with him.
And as the line slowly turned into chaos, Jerry only knew one thing.
He hated himself. And he hated that damn grocery line.
After a while, the chaos subsided, and he was checked out. When he made it home, it was after unpacking that he realized something that shook him to his core.
He forgot to buy the fucking milk.
Please like, share, comment and tell me what you think. Have you ever been stuck in a long grocery line?
Extreme example of frustration when shopping behind someone very slow, can understand how Jerry feels. I am mature enough now to stare into space during the fascinating conversation between customer and cashier unfolding in front of me. Feel free to check out my review posts, and have an amazing day 🙂
Will do – thank you so much for stopping by!
Very welcome
Great story! All to familiar, I can really relate to Jerry. Someone like him probably invented those self service check outs.
So happy you enjoyed – we’re all Jerry’s at heart!
I am still stuck in line. Please send chips!
Done!
Isn’t that the way it goes sometimes? And “Jerry” probably felt like a jackass for thinking all those people ahead of him were jackasses after that!
They never realize that they’re apart of the problem too!
That is a hilarious story, and I can relate. Sunday is really one of the worst days to do your grocery shopping.
So happy you enjoyed thank you and yes it’s my least favorite day to go
I am the queen of picking the wrong line!
Hahah me too I’m so pissed every time I do
😂😂😂😂Watch out you just might be on Santa”s Naughty list this year since you always pick up wrong lines
I hope not! I don’t need anymore coal! Thank you so much for reading
And now I remember why I NEVER go to the grocery on a weekend!
Smart!
He’s lucky he didn’t have my wife in the line too.
She never gets her bags ready until the first things get checked, and when everything’s gone through … THEN she starts looking for her wallet …
It’s ok for you, Jerry … I have to live with her!
He is lucky haha! I appreciate your struggle
“What do you mean, my card’s been refused!” has taken the place of the person counting out pennies to pay.
Very true!
Worst nightmare, going in for a few things, standing in long line and FORGET something major. I now have a list even for 4 items. LOL. Thanks for making us laugh.
Hahah I hate that feeling! Thank you so much for reading!
Yes right worst nightmare. I have long list of groceries shooting but because of busy schedules , I am unable to go and that night in dream I am in groceries mall and collecting groceries 😅.
You got it bad! … just like me – thanks so much for reading
Haha. It’s always the milk!!!
Ain’t it the truth
This post us very hilarious Anthony even the headline “Your Grocery Shopping Nightmare” is quite funny to me😂😂😂, grocery is suppose to be nice not a nightmare.
Anyways, I too have been stuck in a long grocery line and Yes I hated waiting there for hours but I had to because I need the food, its Christmas time so yeah food food food🎂🍫🍪🍯🍯🍧
I’m so happy you enjoyed and thought it was funny! Truth is always funny
Hi Anthony! I enjoyed your realistic and sarcastic expression.
Thank you so much! I always try to make it a fun read, while practice my fiction.
I love grocery shopping during weekends
you are bold!
Nice💓💓❣️❣️
Highlarious
why thank you!!
One of the immutable laws of the universe is that the line you choose will always be the wrong one. One day, I will come up with the exact formula…
hahah that’s so true – let me know when you find it.
This is really familiar to me, the same thoughts and emotions are running through me if I am in the endless line at the counter, while two other counters remain closed.
hahah i’m glad you can relate! Misery loves company -thanks so much for reading!
This was brilliant! I, however, do not hate grocery lines and was in fact long ago a cashier, so I am used with all that nightmarish commotion. My partner, on the other hand, is Jerry! He hates lines with every fiber of his being and every weekend, as we step into the grocery store I know that a rare treat awaits me: listening to his rant as we wait in line.
It brings out deep rooted annoyance!
Hilarious amount of unnecessary fucks in this post. I feel like your use of expletives just hilariously matches with the stupidity of the situation. Food shopping, that should be a calm, fairly chilled out task, so often becomes life or death :’) Loved it!
So happy you enjoyed! It’s always funny when people overreact to the mundane – IMO – thanks for reading!