Commissary Turned Commiseratery...

I have never seen so many grumpy and rude people in one place. Holy cow! The commissary was supposed to be slower today. The ladies inside said it was slower today, but if it was then i am truly thankful I did not go the other days. I had to park in Egypt, which really didn't bother me that much because when I went earlier it was cool, but sunny.
The moment I stepped inside though, it was like stepping into a room full of snapping turtles. Sudden movements and you're gonna have something nasty to deal with and you might lose a finger.
It started off with some old man butting in front of me for a cart. Twice, might I add, because the cart we both reached for the first time was stuck so when I went to get a different one he reached in front of me and grabbed it. After making a third and successful attempt at getting a cart, I got inside and realized with it being so crowded it was really hot, so I stopped in an empty display area near the front and took off my hoodie. The process that probably took me all of thirty seconds was not fast enough for the old woman behind me who "ahem"-ed at me and then tried to move her cart around mine through the narrow way which caused her to bump my cart which then bumped the display and knocked over twelve or so cans of evaporated milk. When she realized she did this, she tried to turn away from my cart, apparently in a move to get away quickly, and ended up knocking into a cardboard Jell-O display and knocking a bunch of boxes off of it. An associate who had been passing out coupons nearby ran over to help and I thanked her while listening to the woman who caused the incidents lecture her on how crowded the commissary is and how ridiculous it is to have the aisles so close together. Making my way past the Thanksgiving-is-coming-so-here-is-a-bunch-of-random-sort-of-Thanksgiving-related-stuff displays, I got to produce in time for stocking. For some reason, stockers don't get that I'm there to buy the things they are stocking, so they still have to let me through. I was trying to get to the bananas and I reached over one of the stockers' boxes and she said "We're stocking right now, it'd be easier for you to get to things if you came back."  Which translated as: "I hate my job, you're in my way, go away." I responded by moving her cart of boxes and getting my bananas and moving on.
I finished up my produce shopping, which by the way was quite disappointing. Wal-Mart's prices are far better on produce right now than the commissary on everything but onions and potatoes. So much for better prices for our military. Anyway, I did more of my usual shopping then headed to the section I dread the most: the meat department. One thing the commissary is awesome about is meat prices. I literally pay half and sometimes even less than half the price for meat that is usually way better quality at the commissary rather than a grocery store. However, everyone else knows this little tidbit too. The meat department is always swarmed with people picking and poking and thinking and talking. I go in with a plan. I know what I want, how much, and what price I'm looking for. I parked my cart, focused on my target and moved in. Someone apparently is having the biggest barbecue of their life or is feeding Africa this weekend, because I barely got away with one package each of chicken breasts and chicken thighs and two turkey roast things. (Its made by Butterball, its like turkey meat but they deboned it and mushed it all together. The regular turkeys are too much for just Erik and myself!) I surfaced and found my way back to my cart just as some woman with a pack of six children, all appearing under age 8, came rushing up to buy chicken only to be informed they were out of drumsticks. I heard her, quite angry, three aisles down while getting milk five minutes later. I feel sorry for the man who told her they were out.
Finally I finished and was on my way to the line to wait for a checkout lane, when suddenly I felt metal brush against my leg abruptly and slightly painfully. Apparently, I was not moving fast enough for a woman and her husband with two cars, so she nudged me with her car and wedged it past me and my cart, then sharply told her husband to "Come on" and "Hurry up." He apologized and said "excuse me" with which she turned around and gave him quite an angry face and responded again with "hurry up."
I had a private moment of laughter when she rushed him over to the express lane only to be told that they had to wait to be called by the machine for the next customer because otherwise they might be jumping ahead of someone. In the mean time, I was called next and smiled as I pushed my cart passed her on my way to the checkout and on her way back to the waiting line which was now twice the size it was before.

After the terrors of grocery shopping far too close to Thanksgiving, I popped over to the PX because it is connected to the commissary. Erik and I had pre-ordered Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood. He knows I liked the first, loved the second, and was interested to try the third so he made sure we pre-ordered it for me. :) I also picked up a surprise for him. Call of Duty: Black Ops. He didn't ask for it, but I know he loved Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and I think that with everyone else he knows wanting to play Black Ops, he'll enjoy it.
After putting groceries away and checking the mail and mailing out forms for insurances and what not, I tried out the new game. It's really good so far. Now I'm tired though and my power is flickering on and off thanks to the wind being ridiculous. We have a wind advisory for the next eight hours. I think I'll head to bed and enjoy not hearing the neighbors cars being hit with garbage cans and branches.

<3s
Fae