You wouldn't like me when I'm angry.

Hee hee! I can hear my Mom think, "Ohh, what have you done, now?" She might think that, but she always takes my side. :) Replace Mom with Dad, and she with he, same thing. My parents are my allies, as are my husband and child. Sisters? Yep, them too.

Back to what I did. First, a bit of background. When I grocery shop, I'm careful to keep the produce (fruits and veg, because the bagboy tonight did not know what 'produce' meant), AWAY FROM cans and other heavy objects. I put all the non-fragile items on first, together, so they're bagged and in the basket FIRST. Then, the produce. When Hubs or Fry are with me, they're in charge of seeing the veg put AWAY FROM milk, orange juice, and possible ice cream.

You know where this is going, right? Not only were the tomatoes UNDER the apples, the sack containing both were UNDER the sack of milk and orange juice. This, after I separated everything, and after is specifically said, "Put the produce on top, please." Was this the first time? Oh no no no. Last time I shopped there, I almost complained at customer service, but the line was six people deep and Fry was due home from school. Today, Hubs was picking her up from Catholic fun time, so I was determined to wait until I could screech at someone.

I was nice, you'd be proud, Mom. Once I had the attention of a customer service person, I said, "You need to see this." I picked up the sack of milk and OJ, saying, "This is milk and juice," and set it on the counter. From under that, I picked up a bag of produce and said, "Here are my vegetables, with the tomatoes under the apples. This is not good and I'm really angry about it. Usually, I have my husband with me to guard against this, but I can't bring him every time I shop." All said in a calm, congenial tone. Not at the top of my lungs, like usual when I'm mad.

She asked me who it was, I pointed out the kid, and added that this wasn't the first time. The last time it happened at this particular store, the guy was much older, old enough to know better.

The gal was totally sweet, replaced my tomatoes, and even stopped by to give me a small coconut creme pie on the house. Coolness, huh? Bad for the diet, but happily, the pie is Hub's favorite, so it's not still in there, mocking me with the other half.

The bad thing is about this, it's not isolated. This store and the two others in the area have horrible bagboy service. Half my stuff is ruined before I get to my car. You don't think it matters? I spend around $40 a week on produce. Once a week, take a $20 bill and throw it out. Put it in the trash, down the garbage disposal, or feed it to the resident rodent pet. It adds up to about a thousand dollars a year. I personally don't want to be out that much on a yearly basis just because a grocery store can't or won't train their personnel.

On the plus side, if this is the worst thing I have to worry about, I'm doing all right. :)