Sushi can make the world go round

I've been craving sushi a lot lately.

I decided instead of going to a restaurant, though, that I'd buy the ingredients and make enough for a week- a proper response to all the holiday-inspired crap I've been eating the past few weeks.

I went to the fancy Kroger tonight, where I knew they'd carry the items I needed. I was almost ready to check out when I decided to run down the household aisle to see if there was anything I needed.

While there, I noticed an Asian man (pardon my uncultured-self for not knowing what country he was from) kneeling down in front of the Baby section, looking back and forth between a small list of items and the sea of products in front of him. It was obvious he was having a difficult time.

I passed him by and left the aisle with a pang of guilt for not helping him. He'll figure it out eventually.

But then I had this image of his small adorable wife with their baby in one arm, handing him that list earlier in the evening. "Make sure you get exactly what this says," she'd say, except not in English.

And I thought about how overwhelming grocery shopping is for me, a speaker of English- all the different brands and prices and slight differences in ingredients. It's too much.

These thoughts combined caused me to wheel my mini-cart (I love the fancy Kroger!) around and walk back to the Baby section where I found the man still on his knees.

After pretending for a few moments to look for items for my fake baby, I asked if he needed any help. "Yes!" he exclaimed as if he was waiting for someone to ask.

Even with my assistance, I'm not sure if we got what his wife needed. The bizarre twist of this story is that after I got over myself and helped this man, he told me he worked in the Sushi section. It was only then I noticed his hat said KROGER.

He got up off of his knees and asked me to follow him. Moments later, I used my hands to stuff my mouth with one eel roll and one blue crab roll that he had freshly prepared for me. He didn't box the rolls up for me to take home like I expected; he wanted me to eat them right there.

People walked by, confused, yet amused. I felt the same way, with a bit of gratefulness mixed in.


this is not him, btw
"food", "thankful"B2 Comments