Inspiration in the Check-Out Line

Do you remember when I wrote, ‘when something or someone inspires you, grab hold and don’t let go?

inspiration, writing, story telling, blogging, blogs, short stories,, short plays, life The other day I was standing in line at the grocery store, minding my own business…preoccupied that I was leaving my dogs in the car too long….when I suddenly became aware of the man in front of me being checked out. I had picked that line because it appeared that he only had maybe six items, (boxes of something) and I was eager to get checked out. (the dogs…remember?)

Well, it turned out that in front of the ‘boxes’, and out of my line of sight, were two dozen very tiny cans of dog food. It seems that you can buy three tablespoons of dog food in individual cans for your darling pet. Two bags of doggie treats and then we were ready to ring up the boxes.

Those six boxes were actually fifteen (yes I counted every one of them; the dogs in the car, remember) boxes of Healthy Choice ‘nutritious, packaged dinners; microwavable, ready to eat in just twelve minutes’.

Fifteen boxes of over-processed, heavily salted, flavor enhanced, empty food. The nutritional value in the dog food was probably better. I wanted so badly to take my bag of fresh spinach out of my cart and give it to him with my best wishes. But, wait, he wouldn’t know how to steam the spinach or for how long.

Well! That made me take a closer look at the customer. And by the time he paid ($86.13 for the dog food and the TV dinners, OMG!) I had half of a short, one act play written in my head.

The man in my story is a newly widowed senior who was married for forty years and never cooked a meal in his life.

He goes home with his sad little boxes of food. He puts his delicious, processed dinners in the freezer to be enjoyed later in front of his fifty-two inch high definition television. Speaking baby talk he rips open the doggie treats and gives his overweight shiatsu a goodie.

If this sounds as if I am making fun…..no, no, no…it’s written with love as this is the typical existence of the widowed male. A snapshot of life that gave me a great little story. And the lesson to be learned, fellow writers, is to keep your eyes and ears open. You never know when inspiration will strike!