Ten months too long

At the beginning of this year, I wrote an entry about my grocery store closing and the woe I was in about finding another place to shop. The store was suppose to be remodeled, but upon inspection there were issues and the entire building was demolished and then rebuilt. I've had terrible experiences at other groceries and each time I would drive by the construction of my neighborhood Publix I would lament aloud how much I hated this whole process.

While shopping in September at the Publix I'd chosen as a temporary replacement I spoke with a former employee of my Publix and she told me the store would be opening the first of October. I was beside myself with glee. October? That was months before scheduled. I immediately began making plans. I told my kids that they could miss school that day because we would camp outside the Publix the night before so that we could be the first ones in the door on opening day. They were a tad concerned that I was serious, and while I thought it would have made a great blog entry, my cohort, the only friend that would actually consider doing something so off the grid, had to work. But we made plans to meet up that morning to attend the opening.

We fortified ourselves with breakfast at 7:15 at McDonald's across the street and we were at Publix by 7:45 for the 8:00 a.m. opening. Unfortunately, we were not the first in the door. Apparently, other people were just as excited as I was about our store re-opening.

We stood in line and chatted with the people in front and in back of us. My friend, while a good egg, thought it was ridiculous that we were all standing in line for a grocery store. The guy in front of me wasn't even from our area, but had been told by someone to come here to do his shopping. That annoyed me and another lady who told him we had been waiting for 9 months and 9 days for this very day. He was impressed, but did not offer to let us cut in front of him. In fact, when the father of Darcy's buddy, showed up and came over to talk this same guy kept mentioning how cutting in line was not something people tolerated. I found that humorous.

Me: "Do you have an issue with him standing here with us instead of going to the back of the line? He doesn't even care about getting a free shopping bag."

Him: "I don't care, no. But some people get down right angry about people who cut in line."

No one beat us up, and after the store manager announced the opening and we all cheered, the doors opened. It took a while for us to make it to the front of the store, but there was a man playing music on a steel drum and there were danishes, donuts, muffins and coffee to fortify us if we chose. When I got to the entrance I threw up my arms, took a deep breath, and crossed the threshold. With tears in my eyes.

SueG: "Are you *^% kidding me? There's something wrong with you."

I shook the manager's hand, took the free insulated Publix shopping bag, and walked into the new store. Of course, it was completely different, which Darcy had warned me about, and while that part sucked because I liked our original layout, I was happy nonetheless.

There were free samples of food as we made our way around the store taking in the sights. We had cider, bacon, pineapple, an egg casserole, and french toast. The women all received complimentary carnations. We got a pharmacy bag with goodies as we rounded the end and we got bags of goodies as we exited the store. I didn't really need groceries, and my friend had to drop her son off at his bus stop, but I did pick up some juice and fruit for my husband per his request that morning. After I got my car at McDonald's, I drove back across the street and reentered all over again to get a flu shot at the pharmacy. I tried to pooh pooh the goodies that were offered to me all over again, but they insisted because of how I'm their number one fan.

The pharmacist gave me $100 in gift cards to use for switching prescriptions to Publix and two $5.00 off coupons for groceries. I left there quite happy with the opening and with no pain in my arm as the pharmacist "gives his shots with love". Welcome back my neighborhood Publix!