Would anyone in this world be jubilant about spending at least 2.5 hours in a grocery store? Well, I can honestly say, “I would not.” However, my shopping experience today was a very satisfying.

To begin, to put this experience into context, let me describe for you our new, enormous marketplace grocery store that recently opened in our neighborhood. This store has almost everything that one might desire. First and foremost, for me, there is a coffee shop, not to mention a wine bar, where you can stop and have a drink of wine and socialize before or after your shopping experience. Once you have tackled your grocery list, if there is just a little left over in your budget, you can treat yourself to a piece of clothing or a pair of shoes.

Now that I have set the tone of my experience, let me move on to the gist of my article, why in the world did this shopping experience last 2.5 hours. Well, to begin, I had just returned from an early morning medical appointment and I had not had my morning cup of java and anyone that knows me, can understand why that would be a problem. So, my first stop was the coffee shop. Once, I had my first sip, I was good to go. However, my stomach alerted me that the shopping experience would not be good, if my hunger was not satisfied. Just in the nick of time, while at the food deli, I was greeted by one of the store employees and I questioned her about breakfast foods. She immediately pointed me into the direction of a rack where there was one large Meat Lover’s Burrito left. Without hesitation, I grabbed the burrito, returned to the coffee area to eat it.

Now that my hunger had been satisfied, I moved on to the vegetable and fruit area. While picking out my vegetables, there was another shopper who had on nautical clothing. So, I kindly mentioned to her that her attire would be the perfect outfit for me, as I am planning to go on a cruise in a few weeks. She responded and we socialized for just a little bit. I noticed that she was removing her earrings and without hesitation, she gave them to me and went on to explain her reasoning. She thought they would go very well with my cruising experience, as the theme was, of course, nautical. I stated that I could not accept her earrings; however, she insisted because she indicated she had another pair exactly like this pair. Remembering what my mother taught me, “to always be humble and graciously, thankful for any gift that I receive.” So, I thanked her for the gift and mentioned that I would tuck them away in a safe place until my trip.

Moving on, my next area would be the gourmet cheese section and there I met another shopper where her and I discussed the various cheeses that was displayed in the counter. She, pleasantly, began to share with me her experience with cheese and she sounded like a “cheese expert” to me. I should have mentioned early in the article that my family deemed a “social butterfly” early in life and I have lived up to that reputation since then. So, our conversation continued for well over 15 minutes, of course, drifting off to several other topics. After a while, we shared what area of the community that we lived in and would you believe that she turned out to be my neighbor, whom I had met approximately four years ago. We both moved into the community around the same time. Subsequently, we shared our contact information, once again, and both of us decided that we needed to get back to shopping and agreed to stay in touch.

Finally, my grocery shopping was all done and I proceeded on to the check-out counter. In conclusion, my hope is that by sharing my experience, it will challenge others to take the time to reach out to others. Extend a friendly compliment to someone, or pay it forward; and, hopefully, the positive experience will help set a tone for the rest of your day, as well as the other individual with whom you interacted.