Sushi and the Supermarket

Without my mother here, the food supply has been steadily dwindling down. So today I finally decided to go food shopping. When I entered the store, I noticed that my heart rate was up, and I was feeling slightly anxious. Public places are not always a problem for me, but the supermarket in particular makes me nervous. It is there that I am most likely to bump into people I am acquainted with.

Despite some social anxiety, I made my way through the store picking up items on the list. I was looking for something easy for dinner, and I stumbled across a sushi display. I love everything about sushi- the seaweed wrap covered in rice, the wasabi and soy sauce, the ginger, the chop sticks- everything, except- the raw fish. Problem solved: I picked out a vegetable roll that contained cucumber, avocado and shredded carrots. I think of it as sushi for beginners.

Sushi in cart, I weaved through the rest of the store, picking up what I needed.

When I found the last item on the list, Chap Stick, I started to move toward the checkout and finally ran into someone I knew. I was relieved to see that it was Mrs. C, one of my mother's friends.

"Is that you Mike? I'm not good at picking up faces when people have baseball hats on."

"Hi, Mrs. C, how are you?"

Her son, who is about my age, has bi-polar and also lives at home with his parents. Although I do not know them very well, I feel a connection to their family, since they are dealing with some similar mental health issues.

"Did your mother get married last weekend as planned?" she asked.

"Yeah, it was a nice ceremony. Everything went well."

"Oh, good to hear. You know, you guys are being so good about the whole thing. I know it must be difficult having someone new come into the picture, but it sounds like you and your brothers have been really supportive of your mother, and that's great. Roby really means a lot to her."

"I know," I said. "It's good to see her happy with someone."

"Now, did I hear that you're planning on going back to school for library science?"

"Well, it's not definite yet, but I'm thinking about it."

"I hope whatever you decide to do works out for the best."

"Thank you."

We said goodbye, and our conversation was over. As usual, the chance encounter that I had feared was not nearly as difficult as anticipated.

After getting through the check out line, I pushed my cart outside to the car, and loaded up the trunk with groceries. Mission accomplished.

And my sushi dinner was delicious.