It takes a village...

Don't be surprised if you run into me and Grace Louise at Publix on any given Monday. You see, Monday is grocery day and we are loyal Hwy 60 Publix shoppers. Since Grace Louise was small enough to sleep inconspicuously in the moss green Moby wrap, we have been treading the aisles of our neighborhood grocery...together. We go for our groceries, sure, but we get way more than we bargain for in relationships, community, and learning opportunities.

Let's take the produce man, for example. Every Monday Mr. Produce Man gets Grace Louise a balloon (and includes a little plastic weight, even though he's not supposed to...). He tries to get a smile out of her for payment, but she plays coy. We're learning please and thank you, colors, and the properties of helium. We talk about what Mr. Produce Man is stocking on the shelves. Strawberries, squash, lettuce... this week it was organic juicing carrots. Fun times in the produce department.

Before we move on... let's back up to the deli. You guessed it, Mr. Deli Man. (I'm not kidding. This is what we call these people... out loud. And they don't mind.) Mr. Deli Man compliments Grace Louise on her outfits and one time genuinely complemented me on having a well-dressed child. He said it was "refreshing" to see a mother take pride in her children's attire. So glad I could refresh his day with my darling child and her cute clothes. They play peek-a-boo behind the meat counter and practice waving hello and goodbye. He always gives her extra meat for snacking.

Mr. Deli Man, in all his niceness and deli meat generosity, is not alone. Yes, there is the Deli Lady. She loves Grace Louise. Really loves her. And takes time to come out from behind the counter to interact with Grace Louise. I overheard her today telling another Publix employee that she has watched my little girl grow up. That really touched me... and inspired this post. (So if you don't like it, blame her!)

The Seafood Lady is just precious, but we haven't been seeing much of her lately... too broke for fresh seafood.

I try not to discriminate at the check out lanes. But I admit, I do have my favorites. Two of the ladies are wonderful. One comments on Grace Louise's hairbows every time. She says she's never seen the same one on her twice. Hmmm.... Grace Louise is a huge fan of the debit card machines in the checkout lanes. She likes to help me push the buttons, so we prefer cashiers who are tolerant of such learning opportunities :-)

And these are only the people who work there! We run into many of the same customers each Monday, like the lady today who nicknamed GL, "Little Diva" and asked if she could try on her pink cowgirl boots! I don't think they would have fit... We're always running into someone from the community and its a delight get to know or just catch up with these folks... even if our grocery shopping does take half the day (yikes!).