Overheard in the grocery store

The first instance was in late 2005 or early 2006. I presumed the couple were from NOLA because of their accents, his in particular. I suspected Katrina had thrust them together. He was so happy, appeared in love with the woman with him. He smiled at her a lot and his body language told volumes about how he felt about her. He was tall, well over six feet tall and lean. She was probably 5'5" and seemed to be soaking up his attention. He was effusive; she was silent. He did not touch her or violate any societal norms with his attention, but he was within a breath of her.

"Just buy whatever you want. Anything. Here, let's get potatoes." He heaved a big bag of potatoes into the cart. Soon, he had loaded up the cart with all sorts of good fruits, vegetables, nuts in the shell. Soon, I moved on and could hear him cheerfully talking about the food to get.

She did not seem to return his smiles or body language that would indicate they were a couple, unlike him. He always referred to what "we" will do at home.

We passed each other several times. Soon, I circled back and was shocked when I saw their cart. There were no more fresh vegetables except for tomatoes. Everything else was canned--beans and such. There were dehydrated potatoes and shelled nuts and boxed cornbread mix.

He did not look happy at all, no smiles, no hovering over her in an intimate way. She seemed less stressed looking once she was relieved of the burden of actually cooking.

I certainly wished I could have been witness to the dumping of fresh vegetables and gathering of canned goods, boxed dinners and boxed desserts. The flour was gone but there were canned biscuits.

I wanted to tell him to run fast.

Last week or maybe the week before, I was slowed down in WM by so many carts and "family reunions" and overheard another conversation. An older woman, maybe 60, was pushing a cart and gathering groceries. A younger woman, maybe 35, was with her and a teen girl. The older woman picked a box off the end cap and said, "This is good." The younger woman took the Hamburger Helper from the cart and slammed it back on the shelf.

"Get macaroni and cheese. It's the SAME thing and cheaper." (HH was not on sale, so not a good deal at all.)

Your turn
Do you ever hear funny or telling conversations as you are negotiating the grocery aisles?