I Stood in Line with Wings

I’d called Ginny before I left work. It was late—almost 7 PM. “Hi, Baby! I’m on my way! See you soon!”

“Michael, I hate to do this to you, but could you stop by the store on the way home?”

“Sure! No problem.” I said.

“I know you had a long day, but I really need you to go to the store.”

I used our only car to commute to work. “Hun, it’s OK. What do you need?”

The shelf at the grocery store was filled with various brands of the item I searched for. Ginny said it had a picture of a red flower on it. I saw several with red flowers.

A lady walked up, selected what she wanted and moved on. I continued to search. I finally gave up and called Ginny, “Hun, what brand did you say it was?”

“It’s the brand with a red flower on it.”

“Maxi with wings?”

“Yes.”

“Hang on.” I replied and searched the shelf. “Hun, I see one with a red flower, but it’s not maxi and it doesn’t have wings.”

A woman standing nearby smiled and pretended not to hear my conversation. “Gin, here’s one with wings. It’s not maxi though? Is that OK?”

“No! Keep looking please. It has a red flower on the label. The one I want is ‘maxi, long and has wings.’”

I sighed. “Hun, I’m trying.” I lowered my voice. A man stopped to get toothpaste from a shelf behind me. “Hun, I think I found them. Long, maxi, and with wings—right?”

“That’s them!” Ginny replied. “Thanks, Darlin’!”

I closed my phone, slipped it into my pocket and walked to the self-checkout. Three people were ahead of me, waiting for their turn at one of the four machines. I held my only purchase in my hand.

The gentleman ahead of me turned and said, “Hi! Hot day, isn’t it?” He saw what I carried and turned away. Men don’t want to know. I just wanted to get out of there.

A lady, two young children in tow, stepped up behind me and asked, “Is this the line for all the machines, or is there a line for each self-checkout?”