Killing Birds

I went to the supermarket tonight to so some grocery shopping. I don't particularly enjoy this experience at the best of times, but especially when it's raining. Even more so when the store is busy.

I asked the girl at the checkout if it was usually this busy on a Thursday. She said it wasn't, but suggested that people might have thought that they would be closed tomorrow for St Patrick's Day. They won't be. In fact the only saint they close for is Stephen (Dec. 26), plus Jesus for Christmas and Easter - although I did detect a slight uncertainty in the girl's voice about why they close for Easter.

Speaking of which, there were plenty of Easter Eggs on display. I need to start thinking about which one I'd like this year for our celebration on "Chocolate Day" - a little family tradition on Easter Monday. I did overhear someone saying that they had always wished that the Cadbury Creme Egg easter eggs where giant size creme eggs instead of just hollow. I don't think they were the only one...am I right?

While I was picking up some flour (my wife bakes such delicious goodies), someone else was getting excited about seeing a Bob the Builder cup cake mix. They hadn't had a Bob the Builder cake for years (!) and decided to get the packet. I turned around to see two college age students doing their weekly shop. Being a college student is great. The freedom from home, but also the freedom to still be a bit childish.

What has any of this got to do with coffee?

Well, in the shopping centre that houses the supermarket there is also a Starbucks which I have yet to go to. So I decided to kill two birds with one stone and drink coffee while getting the groceries. That's another Starbucks off my list. In fact it was the first Starbucks to arrive in Dublin, but I hadn't gone in until now. Usually there is a long queue and I draw the line at doing that just for a coffee.

As I strolled the aisles of Tesco it made me feel different than everybody else - slightly sophisticated I thought. It was like everyone was thinking, darn, I wish I had got a coffee to help with my shopping.

TIP: Shopping trolleys don't have cup holders as a standard feature, but I discovered an alternative. The child seat.