Visit To The Meet Market
Prior to a weeknight shopping trip to Hannaford to get stuff for dinner, I was under the impression that the only time people got picked up in supermarkets were in episodes of “Full House.” Yet as I compared two types of quinoa in the Nature’s Place section, I noticed a rather attractive man in his early 30′s continually glancing at me.
“How cute” I thought, “he’s staring at me. Oh god, do I have spinach leaves from my salad in my teeth?!” Flirting in a supermarket is apparently not one of my fortes.
“Do you cook with that a lot.” His voice is adorable, he’s a got a slight accent that tells me he’s “from away.”
“A few times, I was trying to figure out which one was easier. I’m gonna use it in a stir fry.” I know, I’m a smoothie.
We discussed the quinoa a few more minutes, he decided on the same blue box I had been contemplating, and he was on his way. Figures, I think some guy is trying to hit on me and in reality he just wants to use me for my vast cooking knowledge. Ha! I fooled him…I burn toast!
I continued through the next two aisles trying to figure out what I should have done to be more aggressive. In matters of flirting and dating, it’s a pretty proven fact that I’m not by any means a pro. A sports lover at heart, you’d think I’d be more ept at any sort of game. Unfortunately, I’m seriously out of my element in this ballpark. I mean really, who gets picked up in a supermarket?!
On the third aisle (pastas and sauces for those of you keeping track) as I pushed my little silver and blue cart I looked up to see the boy again. I smiled and managed to trip on the wheel of the cart. As I mentioned, I’m a smoothie.
He chuckled (always a good sign when the guy you are attempting to flirt with laughs at you, right?) and asked if I was ok. I tried to figure out a good way to explain that the only thing broken was my pride…chipped away piece by piece every time I seemed to run into him. I had no time though cause he turned and continued pushing his cart. He’s probably hurrying home to see his girlfriend.
Two aisles later (crackers and cookies I believe) we ran into each other again. This time literally. I crashed the front of my metal cart right into him as I looked for Wheat Thins. Fortunately I was only going at a leisurely aisle browsing speed.
After confirming that he was ok we laughed a little and he said “Well, we keep running into each other…quite literally this last time. Are you shopping through the whole store, I think it’s safer to shop with you instead of against you.” He really did have a cute smile.
We managed to make it all the way to frozen delights, yogurts and cheeses virtually unscathed and chatting the whole way. After checking out we walked to our cars. “This was actually kinda fun, we should do it again sometime,” he said as I pushed my clicker to unlock the hatch on my Jeep.
“Yeah, I’m here most Tuesdays doing grocery shopping, maybe we’ll meet up again.” Oh my gosh, if I ran into him again that would be awesome. I’m so darn good, I’ll let him know when to see me again. Making myself available. Who says I’m not good at this girl thing?
“Haha, yes, we could meet up next Tuesday. OR you could give me your number and I can call you and we can actually plan to meet up. Maybe even going somewhere not a grocery store, though I do love this place.” He pulled out his iPhone to take my number, which I gave to him in a rather astonished daze. Did this really just happen…did I just give my number to a guy in a grocery store parking lot?!
What does this have to do with real life application? Well, first off, I wanted to make sure that if any of you ladies is faced with such a similar situation in a supermarket you will be much cooler than I was. But more importantly I wanted to relay an even more important lesson I learned.
I went out with this Supermarket Cutie on Saturday night, and finally had to ask “So, I tripped on a shopping cart, hit you with one and basically was a bumbling, albeit adorable, idiot in the store. What on Earth made you ask for my number, let alone call me?”
“You were adorable. I just didn’t think you were interested,” was his response.
So the lesson to be learned…be confident in who you are, even if you are a sort of clutzy and socially awkward fool. You never know who might like that sort of thing. Oh, and I learned I really like guys I pick up in the natural food section of the supermarket.
This post was Date-Tested, Supermarket Cutie approved. 
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