Akward Social Situation #1033

Life is a series of awkward social situations. Here is one of them.

A few nights ago, I was doing some grocery shopping in the local grocery megastore. I was perusing the organic cereal section, minding my own business, when I heard "Seany!" Now, there are only a few people who call me Seany... my younger cousins, and most of my graduating high school class. I turned around to see someone from said high school class that I don't think I have seen since we graduated like 40 years ago. I didn't have much to say to this person in high school, and I sure as shit didn't have much to say to them standing in the organic and natural section of Stop and Shop. Never to be the rude one, I entertained this chick with a few minutes of conversation, "shot the shit" as they say, caught up a little bit, and continued on our separate ways.

Or so I thought.

You see, the organic section of Stop and Shop is in the very beginning of the store. It was my first stop amongst a few others in the store, and judging by the emptiness of my classmate's cart, she was also just beginning. What followed next was awkward meetups in each different section of the store. "Those are some good apples you got there" I said to her in the produce section. "The soy ice cream is pretty good" I suggested in the frozen section. But that was pretty much all I had to say, and I was only half way done with my shopping.

I spent the next 15 minutes peeking down aisles before I walked down them, making sure she wasn't there. I had absolutely nothing else. And it's not like I have nothing to say, I'm a pretty bright and opinionated fella. But in the supermarket setting, awkwardly shuffling our carts to avoid hitting each other, there is just not much to discuss. This is why from now on, to avoid such situations, I will be doing all of my shopping in Riverhead, 50 miles from the closest class of 2001 graduate.