Peanuts In My Pocket

I have kept a daily journal for years. Recently, I moved from Day One to Obsidian in an attempt at frugality since Obsidian is free. It’s a bit harder to use and less user-friendly, but it’s a vastly more powerful tool. One of my entries for yesterday was an odd social interaction from my day.

Journal Entry for 20240717
stopped by the pharmacy after dropping my grandson at a coding class. It was the typical chaos of a lower-middle-class neighborhood’s Walgreens: homeless individuals in the parking lot, dirty needles near where I parked, and a parade of interesting characters in the store. It’s not my first choice for a pharmacy, but the insurance company dictates who I can use, so here I am.

Inside, while waiting in line for 10 minutes as an older Filipina unsuccessfully negotiated glucose test strips with the lone pharmacy tech, I noticed an even older unkempt lady lingering near me. When I made eye contact, she threw a bag of chips at me and yelled, “I want to buy these!“

I did not say or do anything. I just looked down at the chips, thinking about how to respond. The people around me in line turned away from the lady and me, as did a store employee. I did the same. The old lady drifted away. The chips stayed on the floor.

Ten minutes later, when I finally cleared my turn with the pharmacy tech, I picked the chips up and returned them to the chip aisle. Crazy people do weird things, I get that. Why does it always seem that I am the target?