I grew up in a small town with a locally owned grocery store just up the road from my childhood home. My mom knew every grocery clerk by name and sometimes, while shopping, we would duck between the aisles to avoid a person we didn’t like.
The town eventually started growing, I got married, moved twenty minutes away and found myself preparing to embark on a new adventure. My husband and I were preparing to move away from everything we knew. I handled the move quite well. My husband worked his new job while staying in a hotel. I took care of the kids on my own, I cleaned, I packed with the help of my relatives, I worked with the real estate agent and I helped sell the house. I somehow managed to keep my sanity in all of this or at least I thought I did.
We moved back in with my parents for a short time as we were in between houses. Finally, the night before our move, my daughter starts coughing and develops a stuffy nose. I decide to run up to the small locally owned grocery store and buy her some Vicks Vapor Rub.
Now, I know the town has changed a lot. I know the grocery store has a new name and new ownership, but in my haste with the bright lights blurring my vision, I barrel into the store. I’m a mom on a mission, right? I have a sick child!
I walk in and I’m met with confusion. This looks more like a strange, cheap retail store. I shrug it off and assume I’m in the variety section of the grocery store. I see this display of cute little puzzles.
“How much are these puzzles?” I ask the clerk.
She replies, “A dollar.”
“Wow, what about these puzzles? Are they also a dollar?” I ask again.
The clerk gives me a strange look and says in a very slow, monotone voice. “Yes, everything in this store is a dollar.”
I frown and walk away. Goodness, it was just a question! No need to be all snarky. I find what I think is a pharmaceutical section and I find this generic version of chest rub. I start looking for the price and I can’t find it. I walk up to the counter and that’s when I look up at the sign. I realize, I’m in a dollar store! I have never felt more stupid in all my life!
In all my confusion, I head out to the parking lot. I look up to see that the old grocery store of my past, has been split up into three separate businesses. The door to the dollar store was the original front doors to the old grocery store. I walked in by some sense of memory. That’s what I’m leaving behind…all of my memories. Everything that was once so familiar.
In all the stress from my move, I feel myself finally cracking. I’ve been strong for too long. I’m leaving all of my family and my friends behind. I’m filled with fear and despair. Doubt is overwhelming me. I feel it building within me. I realize, I’m going to ugly cry in this dark crumbling parking lot.
I’m holding back my tears and then I feel it all burst out of me…in the form of laughter. I start laughing…hilarious, side splitting laughter in front of the dollar store. People are passing me, giving me strange looks and probably assuming I’m intoxicated. There are tears in my eyes and I allow myself this moment of insanity, proving that humor truly is the best medicine!
