Love is…found on Aisle 5 (Week 27)

Grocery Shopping. It’s one of life’s greatest joys. Did you just re-read that last sentence and think to yourself, “Joy? What’s joyful about restocking a pantry that will be empty again in a week? What’s joyful about standing in the 10 items or less line…behind someone with 28 items?” I hear you. Trust me, I do. It’s a mundane chore that we all have to do…often. And I don’t know about you, but I usually come home from the grocery store only to find that I’m already out of something else. And so another grocery list is started, and so the cycle goes on and on. I like to think that in Heaven, my pantry will have self-stocking shelves…



I consider myself blessed to live in South Texas – home of H-E-B. {or as my 2 year old nephew calls it, A-B-G. Whatever works.} Those red and white letters are something I know well. When we moved to Corpus 2 years ago, part of the appeal of the location of our new home was its proximity to the nearest H-E-B. It is literally 0.3 miles away from my front door. When we moved here, I had just “retired” as a full-time, retail store manager and had come to LOATHE grocery shopping. At the end of a long day of working with people, the very last thing I wanted to do was pop into the grocery store and battle the masses for a box of whole wheat pasta and a zucchini. For some reason, my new H-E-B seemed less threatening and the convenience of it seemed ideal. It turned out I was right.

My one-year old, Owen, and I frequent the grocery store a few times a week. Since it’s so conveniently located, we tend to walk there or just pop in once our list has a few items on it rather than waiting until it’s an hour-long event. We seem to do best with the quick trips, so because of that, it’s not unusual for us to go 4 or 5 times a week.

I started taking the time to get to know “my H-E-B” workers a few months ago. But truthfully, they had taken the time to get to know us first. My checkers & baggers always asked me how I was feeling and inquired as to “how much longer ‘til the baby arrived” when I was pregnant with Owen. And once he had arrived, they all inquired as to “how old he was,” commented on how fast he was growing and somewhere in the process, truly became a part of Owen’s little life. They have all come to “know” Owen and always give him a big wave and a hello before sending us on our way with our balloon. They made it their job to make my mundane “chore” a positive experience. In other words, they showed my little family of 3 LOVE each time we walked thru those sliding glass doors.

And so we were inspired to return the favor - We made it our mission to get to know those smiling faces that we see daily! We now know to ask how Maria’s trip to visit her daughter was, and to ask Christian how his senior year ended over at Ray. At Easter, we made sure Pat had somewhere to enjoy an Easter lunch. Rochelle works the Combo Loco displays and always loves on Owen when we pass by…she loves that they both have red hair. I love that she can always bring a smile to O’s face…and that she can always convince me to buy the Fajita Combo Loco even though fajitas are never on my list.

Love can be a smile, a “how are you?” a friendly gesture, bagging your own groceries when the baggers are swamped, or just a kind word. Showing love can look a million different ways. Sometimes love is returned, and sometimes it’s not. I like to think that when it’s not returned, those are the people that need Love the most.

Attention H-E-B shoppers, show a little love today! Thank your checker by name, give your bagger a smile and tell your sushi sample guy that hands out pot-sticker samples All.Day.Long. a funny joke. I told mine this one last week and it was a home-run: “Did you hear about the new sushi bar downtown that caters exclusively to lawyers and attorneys? It’s called, Sosumi.” If your sushi sample guy doesn’t laugh {but, how could he not?!} just put another joke in your arsenal and keep trying.

Share some grocery store love this week. You’ll find out it’s contagious…