Bitchin N' Moanin Mondays: Good Deed

I woke up this morning in a very happy, content mood with nothing to bitch about. However as the day went things changed. Here is my bn'm & good deed for the day:

Hit the grocery store around noon with a long list of items to buy. On the menu this week: Breakfast: spiced pumpkin muffins, blueberry yogurt with granola
Dinners: marinated grilled chicken & asparagus (its a nice day out today!), hot dogs w/ roasted green beans & carrots, mustard encrusted pork tenderloin w/prune & white wine sauce and brown rice, Jason's amazing turkey chili (recipe to come!).

For some reason the store was packed (double coupon Mondays?). Since I had a large amount to buy I decided on a shopping cart instead of the hand-held basket. Apparently the store was having issues with customers stealing the carts so they devised a system where you must pay 25cents to use one. You place your quarter in a slot on the cart and when you return the cart you get it back. I have my 25cents and I'm all set. By the time I'm done shopping I look like I'm feeding a family of 8! My cart was overflowing with food, Bounty and Charmin and I'm trying to hold everything together to prevent it from falling over. I hit the checkout stand and here's where it alllll starts.

I spark up a conversation with an older woman on the line. She's originally from Taiwan and moved here over 20 years ago to be with her daughter. She tells me that she lives only 1 block from the shopping center and since she doesn't drive it is very convenient. Then she smiles at me and moves in a little closer. In a whisper she tells me that she's very upset because the women in her complex steal the shopping carts and use them to move furniture or take the garbage out. She also tells me that they steal the money people forget or leave in the carts. Then she says 'oh I probably shouldn't gossip like this'. I told her they are just embarrassing themselves by strolling around town with a shopping cart and she shouldn't let it bother her because these people were just crazy. Since I myself have never seen anyone strolling around town with a cart or witnessed them stealing money, I thought she was just a sweet old lady who wanted to chat. Before I left thanked me for the chat and said hopefully we will meet again. So, I stroll out feeling good.

I put my groceries in my car and it is at this point that I always look for someone who needs a cart to use. Here is where my good deed comes into play: Typically I give the cart to another shopper and they always offer me a quarter in exchange for the one I used. I say 'no thanks, but I ask that they pass it on to the next person. I like to think of it as a small pay it forward. And 99.9% of the time this works, except for today. I looked for a customer to take my cart but there wasn't anyone around. At that point I decided to leave the quarter and hope that the next person will do the same. As I walk away, I see a woman staring at me from behind a car..she kept popping her head around and as soon I would turn her way she'd hide. Hmmmm. So, I head back to my car and pretend not to notice this loon. Low and behold she literally snuck around her car pushing a cart and started moving toward my cart. She looked back at me several times but figured I was already in my car and I wouldn't confront her. Little did she know.

She gets to my cart and BAM she takes the quarter. My 25cents, the quarter I had high hopes for. Being a NY'er I couldn't help myself. I got out of my car and walked toward her. She sees me and darts for the store! I cut her off at the entrance and I explained that if she was going to take my quarter I would wish that she please pass hers on to someone else. She promptly said 'no' and shoves her cart into me so I would move. Can you believe it?? Ah! I stepped out of her way, because let's be honest here, am I really going to fight an elderly woman for 25cents? No, I'm not. But that's not the point. The point is karma people, karma.