| Been kicked out of an Aldi's lately? |
I went grocery shopping last night and saw an 80 year old being kicked out of an Aldi's. Now, I'm all for discount groceries and eventhough Walmart claims to have the lowest prices, I don't see how they can justify selling a can of pears for $1.25 when another store has them for $.69. As we were going in there was this little old man standing smack dab in the middle of the automatic doors, which is not only a hazard, but blocking the way for myself and my child, a couple in their 60's and a middle aged man and our shopping carts. It was raining and very breezy and the lady asked him if he could please move in a little more so that we could all get inside out of the draft. She was met by a nice "Go to hell" and he remained there, fiddling with his list and wallet. A few minutes later a nice cashier came over and asked him to move since it was hazardous to stand in the middle of those doors. He told her to mind her own business and moved inside, driving his cart right down the center of the isle as we all lagged behind.
I don't really care. I hate grocery shopping but I like to take my time and find things I need and get them while comparing prices so if he wanted to take 20 minutes per isle, more power to him. We all shopped and then once we got to a wider isle, passed him with care and went on about our business.
A few minutes later, while scanning produce, I heard the yelling of profanities and vulgarity coming from him over in the canned veggie isle. I guess a man had asked him to kindly scooch over so he could please get around him a little easier. Another cashier was over there trying to break it up and while he spewed "f-you!" and "G-D it!" all over the store, a burly manager came out to investigate.
I felt really bad for the man because he seemed to be lost. He scowered all the isles but put only a few items in his cart. At the moment there were about 4 big jars of peanuts, 9 boxes of elbow macaronni, 5 boxes of cereal and one small quart of milk. I thought that maybe he was alone, with no family to help him out and he got things that required little cooking, or that possibly he was in the early stages of dementia and was doing things he would've never dreamed of doing a few years earlier. His clothes were a little mismatched and while he was wearing dress pants, he had a very stained undershirt that was covered by a half buttoned, wrinkled shirt.
The manager asked him to please refrain from swearing and yelling as it was a family store with women and children present who didn't appreciate that type of language but the man only got more frustrated. He finally had to tell him to either tone it down or leave the store. After calling the manager a few choice words he was met with the ultimatum of either leave on his own free will, have them call someone to pick him up, or have the police come. He ended up leaving and as I paid for my groceries I wondered if he was even safe to drive.
Getting old is hell, and while I do want to see my children grow up and raise babies of their own while I enjoy retirement with my husband, I hate to think of all the illness and heartache that comes with it. I only hope that this little old man, who once was probably polite, chivalrous, and a hard working family man had someone to go home to and take care of him. |
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Alias: SNM
Hometown: Farmington, WV, United States
About Me: SMN is currently a S@HM who resides in the Senior Citizen capital of the world. Amongst her many talents are writing, tiptoeing through the mind field that is her living room, saving run away strollers, lacing any comment with sarcasm, and changing a diaper in 10 seconds flat. Her greatest achievements are birthing Thing One and Thing Two. Ongoing projects include diving into the world of blogging, weaning an aggressive breast feeder, parenting and all it's challenges, and being a wife she can live with (as well as her husband).
See my profile...
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