Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Oh, the Things I've Seen!

No one would believe what I saw yesterday even if they'd seen it with their own eyes.  I'm walking through a supermarket in Manhattan Beach, let's call it 'Rudolphs,' which happens to have free samples of dip and cheese near it's deli section doing my normal grocery shopping and minding my own, when I witness what has to be one of the lowest common denominator things I've seen thus far in any supermarket.  Normally, the cheese samples have toothpicks with which one can sanitarily (supposedly) sample said dairy product.  Many are there, obviously very accessible to any person. But no, this doesn't stop the horror.

What I see is an elderly man pick up a piece of cheese with his hand.  This is not his offense however.  What he proceeds to do afterwards is much more heinous.  He grabs a handful of cheese.  A great, overflowing handful of Swiss chunks with his, I'm quite sure of it, unwashed hands.  Does he eat them all with one gaping bite?  Does he hold them while he's walking around the market for a quick snack? 

No.

Not only does he grasp through this mountain of cheese, but he stuffs what he's grabbed into his pocket!  Some for the road, I guess.  I turn away, thinking I've witnessed the last of it, only to turn around one minute later to see him return for more

My eyes.  My eyes...

3 comments:

Mark said...

BTW, this guy didn't look like he was starving, destitute, or homeless. Do I judge too quickly?

Amy said...

Haha... I don't think I'm nearly as grossed out as you are, but I generally tend not to take from an unattended pile of samples anyway, I just assume things like this happen. :) Then again I'm Asian, and I know about Asian people who just hoard anything that's free regardless of their own financial background. :)

bill said...

Wait .. that was you staring at me at Rudolph's? Hey, you know, I let my stuble grow out over the weekend, but I'd hardly say I looked elderly ... come on ;)