Can You Hear Me Now?

Contents of my found wallet:

Drivers license
Social security card
Health insurance card
Blockbuster card
Library card
Old receipts
College I.D. (I'm 21 when movie theaters offer student discounts)
Two dimes, a nickel, and three pennies

Every time I step out in public, I'm slapped in the face by the most effective method of birth control: children - in the flesh. Yesterday was no exception. After I picked up my wallet at the cab company, I stopped at this cute new sandwich place located in the same building called Bewiched. I got the combo with the half smoked turkey sandwich and the small spinach salad. Mmm...the spinach dressing was sweet and savory!

In a not so pleasant trip, however, I was forced to visit the dreaded grocery store as evidenced here. My least favorite chore of all time combined with deviant young souls and one lunatic of a mother did not make for an agreeable excursion.

I heard her before I saw her. Her tired face masked by long dark frizzy hair, she chided her four little hell-raisers to sit down according to the designated seating chart. She had one of those shopping carts with the plastic red cars in front for kids in hopes it's enough of a distraction to keep their grubby little paws off the produce.

With each demand, her high decibel tone escalated as did my nerves. Did she think her children were stupid? Clearly, raising her voice hadn't been effective in the past and certainly proved telling yesterday at 4:43 pm. What possesses someone to speak so loudly in public? Have they no common courtesy for innocent bystanders? Apparently not.

And then later as I was loading up on Liptop Sides (10 for $10) and hoping the cute guy behind me wasn't judging me for it, I heard her shrill voice from the adjacent aisle. It started up again. This time I could distinctly hear the mother over two shelves of stocked canned goods, the sound not muffled one bit.

In the meantime, I'll stick to four-legged friends. Cuter and much less work.