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Today’s good deed: LOOK SOMEONE IN THE EYES AND THANK THEM SINCERELY
I love Sam’s Club. Don’t get me wrong, I like Costco too, but Sam is my first love. I love being able to buy a baby monitor and a green house in the same place. I love buying potato chip bags that you need both hands to hold on to. I love the 3 pack of Dove body wash that’s big enough to wash all of Scotland with. And I love, love, LOVE the free samples!
I’m not alone in my adoration. A friend of mine has no shame counting samples as lunch for her kids. Weekends are the best. I sampled:
Chicken fried rice
Broccoli with cheese sauce
Red grapes
Green grapes
Purple grapes
Chicken fingers
Apple slices with caramel sauce
Chicken chimichangas
Ice tea with lemon
Sweet tea
Raspberry tea
Lemonade
Blue Glaze Gatorade
Propel Water
Cheese popcorn
Caramel popcorn
Gluten free brownies
My acquisition of samples is almost animalistic. I circle like all the other sample vultures and wait for the next edible victim to emerge from its den: the toaster oven.
After scooping up my prey, I quickly disappear for fear of being recognized again at the same watering hole.
At another feeding ground, I burn my mouth. I heard the “ding” of a microwave and my urge to pounce is overwhelming. The food came out steaming hot, but I couldn’t wait. That little flap behind my two front teeth was singed with taco meat.
I am 3 samples deep. I have to stop reacting like one of Pavlov’s dogs every time I hear a timer goes off. So I decide to talk to the lovely sample stewardesses while my food cools down.
I talked to quite a few ladies and a couple of men. My favorite was Barbara.
Barbara is a sweet, grey haired, little older lady who has been serving samples since January. She loves it. She loves feeding people and talking to people, but mostly she’s just happy to be out of the house. Barbara has long since retired and she likes keeping busy.
We chit chatted for a while. She’s a pretty funny person. Another sample predator stood next to us and enjoyed our conversation while he enjoyed his premium roast beef slice.
My samples were reasonably cool and I could tell Barbara was just about to release another flock of samples into the wild. It was time to make my goodbyes.
My interaction with her changed me from a werewolf back into the human being I once was. I looked her in the eye, touched my heart with my hand, and bowed slightly like a karate student honoring her sensei. I explained to her how getting samples was my favorite part of going to Sam’s Club and I sincerely thanked her for doing her job. She said, “No … getting samples is not your favorite part. Meeting us (as she touched her own heart) is your favorite part.” Then she nodded back to me as only a good sensei would. The man eating his sample laughed and bowed to both of us.
That or he was choking on his roast beef.
Photo (Flickr CC) by Ines Hegedus-Garcia
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Holly Walker
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