Ralph Higgins

Ralph Higgins
color pencil sketch by Gayle Higgins

Quotes I Like


“Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”

-Albert Einstein

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Thursday, May 24, 2012

Evidently I'm Not Alone


My blog gets relatively few comments, due to the “hoops” that are evidently required to post a comment. I think comments can be easily left under “anonymous,” but a name can be included.  
I do, however, get responses to blogs on my email.
I recently got the following email from an old friend and former high school teaching colleague, Dave Nelson.  Dave is responding to my previous post entitled, “Shopping with the Missus.” 
You have to go back and review that particular post to understand Dave’s email to me. 
I’ll bet a lot of us have similar stories.  I got a kick out of Dave’s story, so I didn’t change a single word of it.  Here’s his entire email in Dave’s own words:

*   *   *

“Hi Ralph,

            “I just got finished reading all your Blogs that you sent recently.  I enjoyed ALL of them!  I particularly enjoyed "Shopping with the Missus." 
“Because it is some distance from our home (as opposed to the corner grocery store), I often go with Lisa to the Beale Air Force Base Commissary about a one half hour drive from our home.  We're often on a tight schedule and usually make two to three stops at various places on the base. One of those is always the gas station for cheaper gas prices than on the ‘outside.’ 
“There must be something in the air when we drive on base because Lisa seems to get that ‘military feeling’ whatever the heck that is!  I too find myself pushing the cart just like the guy in your story; of course, always about 2-3 steps behind. 
“The fun begins at check out time.  She NEVER EVER lets me unload the cart!  Why, you ask? Because I do it wrong.  This is true, just ask her.  Some years ago I did ask, "How can you unload a shopping cart "wrong" at check out?” 
“Her answer, ‘Because I want items of a certain category to be checked out and bagged together.’
“I said, ‘The bag boy takes care of proper bagging procedures.’ 
“No matter.  There is only one way to do it and of course this subject is not negotiable. 
            “Then the grocery loading is the next adventure.  I head to the car while Lisa finds the bathroom.  Because we do live 30 minutes from the base, certain items HAVE to be in the trunk and other items may be placed in the back seat.  ‘Don't you dare get that mixed up!’ 
“Everything is now loaded correctly.  Nothing can possibly tip over because she has checked and double checked that everything is blocked and braced in the trunk to avoid such a calamity. 
“Once the engine is on, it is home we go and it better be at or slightly above the speed limit- can't allow the ice cream to get soft or the milk to lose too much of the cold temperature.  It is a team effort to get the groceries into the kitchen without delay.  The task is done.  I go back to the car and put it in the garage, Lisa goes to the bathroom.
            “From time to time, I go to the base commissary alone.  Do you think ‘her system’ is at the forefront of my mind?  Not a chance!  The only downside of me shopping alone is when I come home and there is often an item or two on the counter that was not on ‘the list.’ 
"’Why did you buy that?’  Or, ‘Now we have FOUR boxes of that.  Who is going to eat all of that before it gets old or spoils?’  
“Quick thinking me, ‘The item(s) were on sale’ (I think). 
“Keeping that ‘military bearing’ that may be lingering in her system since her last visit to the base, I usually get a retort of some kind indicating a goof up of some magnitude, in a loving way of course.
“If Lisa had been in the military, there is no doubt that she would out rank me!  In others words, she would be ‘Sarge’ and I would be ‘Beatle Bailey’.
            “On the sobering side of life, I am most grateful that we can go to the store together.  There are more than just a few of my fishing and golf buddies who are widowers - they always shop alone. 
“I am looking forward to future blogs.  I am sure there will be another good one waiting for us when we return from Sweden.
“Hope to see you this summer!  Take good care, each of you!”
   
Dave

             

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