Uneasy Encounter At the Grocery Store

Sunday night DH and I took the kids to McDonald’s for supper. I’d been itching to get out of the house, but the day got away from us and this and the grocery store were the only places we could go by the time we got out. Yeyda had a good time and was happy with her new Strawberry Shortcake character stamper and notebook she got in the Happy Meal. Kiki got to sample some french fries while she gobbled up her Gerber third foods Herbed Chicken and Pasta dinner. I know I’m biased, but my babies are so cute.

In a bit of a rush we headed over to the grocery store which I feared would close at 8 PM and it was already 20 minutes til. Yeyda always likes to ride in their cart that has a toy truck cab big enough to fit two kids and a 3/4 size cart on the back. Kiki’s too small to sit up front with Yeyda so she sits in the kiddie seat at the back. DH was busy strapping the kids in while I stood off to the side looking in my coupon organizer for any coupons to use. I didn’t want to get too close to the automatic door so I was about 8 feet away at a corner of the foyer that lie in between the first and second set of doors. DH was about 5 feet away from me in front of a table displaying fudge and pastries next to a “donate to the hungry” barrel.

As I stood there with my nose buried in the coupons I could see in my peripheral vision someone pushing a cart come out of the store in to the foyer. I must have been in their way because I could see out of the corner of my eye they just stood there staring at me. They didn’t say excuse me or anything they just stood there. So without saying a word I moved back against the wall. Then I hear my DH who was busy with the baby say, “I’m sorry was I in your way.” To which a woman’s voice replied, “Is this your wife? She’s beautiful.” Of course that made me look up only to find a pair of piercing almost crazy looking eyes just staring back at me. Gulp!

The forty something woman had very short hair that was spiked up unevenly all over her head. She had a small frame but wore an oversized shirt and what seemed to be too large, “comfortable”, lace up chunky black shoes with jeans and a baggy jacket. She turned her gaze to my children. Looking at Yeyda she said, “You look just like mommy.” Then she looked back at me in a way that made me uncomfortable. Usually Yeyda is pretty good about saying thank you in response to a comment like that, but she just sunk her chin to her chest and recoiled until we prodded her for a response. The odd lady then peered at Kiki and says to DH, “She looks just like you. What beautiful girls you have.” To which he said thank you and we proceeded in the store.

The encounter in an of itself doesn’t seem strange, but the manner in which the comments were made and the appearance of the woman was unnerving. I commented about this to DH and asked if he thought maybe she was hitting on me. He shrugged his shoulders and said, “Anything is possible around here.” Normally, I don’t hear comments like that especially linked with a gaze like hers. If someone comments on our appearance it’s an older woman or man merely complimenting on our dress and grooming. Maybe it was innocent, but it made me feel weird. If you would have seen those eyes you’d know what I mean. It was enough to make me wonder if there’d be someone waiting in the parking lot for us when we got out of the store; just a little creepy.

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