i never realized that the grocery store is such a loud place. the beeps, coming from several different cash registers, are never synchronized and don't form a discernable pattern despite my hope that at some point they all come together in some satisfying orderly repetition. the beeping, along with the sound of cash registers opening and closing, the cash register attendant coughing occasionally to spread her germs all over the money in the register, people talking in the background, a man laughing at something one of the security guards said to him, carts being shuffled about, are enough to push any self respecting grocery store worker over the edge. add to that the horribly annoying musac and the constant loudspeaker announcements about specials and reminders about upcoming holidays and i'm surprised that the shoppers themselves don't go insane.

every time i go into the grocery store i enter some kind of trancelike state wandering the aisles staring at brightly colored labels, humming whatever musac is playing, putting random items in my cart, occasionally running into people who stand in the middle of the aisle while choosing their products, and thinking of all the possibilities that breakfast, lunch, and dinner hold for me. ok really, i usually try to get in and get out as fast as i possibly can without letting the grocery store zombie within me take over. when i become that zombie it means i probably should have eaten before i went to the store and i end up buying things like the can of artichoke hearts that has moved with me from apartment to apartment for the last few years that i know i will never actually eat.