the rix mix

I sailed though my ward district voting place late afternoon, no waiting, & when I finished voting the elderly gent running the machine said, as he always does, "Have a blessed day." Is he allowed to say that? I said, "You, too, sir." There was a line out the door across the hall for the other district. No people holding signs on the street corners, they were either done for the day or the county Democratic street money was going where it was really useful. I wished I could've voted for Linda Stender, she needs it. My congressman is unopposed.

It being a pleasant evening, & election returns & online chat later, & Gina's cats fed, I walked on to the supermarket to get a few items I forgot the other day. There I had a very brief encounter that reminded me some people are nuts & there's nothing you can do about it. I was showered, shaved, hair cut. wearing a neat, unwrinkled conservative print shirt with a button down collar. In that guise I move about nearly invisible to others. After a fast no browsing trip through the store I had a little basket with the bottle of tomato juice, the frozen Brussels Sprouts, the strawberry yogurts, & two cans of vegetable soup I was pretty sure were on sale but were the only flavor on the shelf for the brand without a sale tag. At one of the checkout lines, a young woman was waiting with half-filled rolling basket & sales flyer in the kiddy seat, looking at a magazine from the nearby rack. So I asked politely, "Could I have a quick look at your sales flyer?" 99 of 100 people would nod & say, "Sure" & go back to the magazine. She was the 100th.

She got this horribly alarmed expression on her face, panicky, as if I had on a ski mask & was smashing through her front door with an axe, & began babbling, "Oh no, oh no, there are flyers over there by the door, go over there." The entry door with the flyers outside was way on the other end of the store. I said, "Alright, alright," slowly backed away, went to an empty checkout line, the cashier smiled & said hello, I gave her my discount card & asked, "Could you ring up the soup first, I want to make sure it's on sale." She said OK, & it was it on sale. Some people are nuts & there's nothing you can do about it.