Today I’m grateful for the Prilosec lady at Walmart.

11.27.2024

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I had several grocery items I needed to pick up today. I debated going to the store on Tuesday night, but figured the shelves would be better stocked in the morning. I was also procrastinating, because the idea of last-minute grocery shopping right before Thanksgiving sounded painful. The plan was to get up early and be at the store by 7 a.m. to beat the crowds.

I slept until almost 8:30 instead. I finally made it to the store about 2 p.m. I went to Walmart so I could get all my shopping done at one place, and it was a mad house.

Even though the store was crazy busy, the vast majority of people I interacted with were in excellent moods. There was a lot of holiday cheer up and down the grocery aisles today. I chatted with a lady as we looked for cream of mushroom soup together. I helped an older gentleman get a box of stuffing off the bottom shelf. I peek-a-booed with not one, but two different babies while waiting in line.

My favorite interaction, though, happened in the vitamin and medication aisle. I had just started my shopping and I was alone in the aisle when an older lady turned the corner. She had a smile on her face but also a determined look in her eye that told me she was definitely on a mission. She walked right over to the heartburn section and grabbed a box of Prilosec. As she held it up in triumph and then threw it in her cart, she loudly declared “Praise Jesus!” I smiled, as if to acknowledge her victory. She then told me how she wasn’t going to let “no damn acid reflux” stand between her and some pumpkin pie. I said something about how you gotta have pumpkin pie with Thanksgiving dinner, to which she responded, “well I think sweet baby Jesus just told me that he wants me to have 2 pieces of pie.”

The whole interaction took less than a minute, but it made my whole day. She probably had no idea that she set the tone for the rest of my shopping trip, which just moments before I had been dreading. I’m pretty certain that all the other positive interactions I had with people at Walmart today were because this woman spread a little joy with me in our short health and beauty aisle meet-up. She primed me with a dose of holiday happiness that I didn’t know I needed. But once I had it, I was able to see it down every aisle. I hope I was able to share a little bit of her joy as well.

Thanks, Prilosec lady. I hope you enjoy your two slices of pie!