We were in Milwaukee yesterday with my in-laws, and I was sent out in search of Malt-O-Meal. We were going to Summerfest, see, and yesterday you could get a free ticket with a grocery store receipt showing you'd purchased two packages of Malt-O-Meal products. We decided to buy enough cereal to get six adult tickets.
I drove to the grocery store with Stella and we headed to the cereal aisle. I was dithering by the bags of Malt-O-Meal cereal, none of which really filled me with enthusiasm. I have relaxed a lot about feeding my kids processed food, but Froot Loops and knockoffs thereof are not something I'm willing to have in my pantry. So I was piling the cart with bags of frosted mini-wheat clones and trying to read labels on some of the non-fluorescent alternatives. (And thinking, "Maybe it's better just to buy the stupid tickets.")
An elderly lady came down the aisle accompanied by a woman who appeared to be her daughter. "Look how darling!" the older lady exclaimed about Stella. "She pushed the cart right out of our way! And look, she wants the healthy cereal." Stella had indeed pushed the cart over to the side so the pair of them could get past. She had pulled a $5 box Amaranth-Quinoa Puffs With Acai Berries And Added Trendiness off the shelf and was trying to heave it into the cart.
I smiled and said thank you, as Stella snagged a box of Umpteen Grain Goodness With Toasted Hemp Seeds Plus Extra Earnestness. The daughter said, "I'll have to tell my own daughter about your little girl! My daughter [significant look at my cart, heaped with frosted mini-wheats] only ever buys healthy cereal."
Ten years ago I might have felt the need to explain that my own pantry was full of millet and lentils. Yesterday I just smiled and said, "You do that." If you need any frosted mini-wheats, I can set you up.
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