My life here in The Netherlands has become dramatically better with in the last week. Our grocery store C1000 has been sold to a competitor named Jumbo (the J is pronounced like a Y, just like my last name). It is a beautiful new supermarket perfectly close to my house. I just bought saddle bags for my bike because I planned to cycle to the market to get most of my food. I’ll just have to go more often which is what the Dutch like to do.
As I arrived at our new store ready to explore what new items they were stocking, I was welcomed by a friendly Jumbo greeter with a magic wand in her hand that she passed to me. It was yellow and shiny and oh so much fun! As I glided through my new store while pointing, scanning and bagging my goodies all by myself… elation took over my body. I was giddy with delight of having so much power. I would no longer have to avoid eye contact with the other people in line who held just a loaf of bread while I checked out my weeks’ worth of groceries.[nbsp] I would no longer have to shun their glares as I slammed all of my food into bags at the speed of light, over packing and mashing my bread and eggs in the process.[nbsp]
I would now have the freedom to shop leisurely, scan the price and put it immediately into my bag in the place that works best for that item. As I turned a corner, my eyes caught a glimpse of a man and a cart. There was music coming from the boom box inside and on the top he was making waffles.[nbsp] This jolly ‘ole’ fellow with his tall baker hat was in such a wonderful mood. He was tapping his foot to the music and I smiled as I watched him. What a pleasure to enjoy your job so much, you wanted to dance and smile all day long.[nbsp]
Here’s a little music to help put you in the mood. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD_uz_kBS1E
Well, he saw me standing there smiling and watching and he reached out to grab my hand. He circled me around and around the Jumbo market while I laughed and giggled with delight at my new found favorite grocery store.[nbsp]
I checked out within seconds. All I had to do was hand my yellow shiny toy back to the cashier and pay. It was all very painless.[nbsp]
Dancing with the Waffle Man while doing a little shopping ~ pure joy!![nbsp]
Lisa Jochim
