As I Shoped Essay, Research Paper

Kurt Baldwin

English 101

As I Shopped

With the growl of hunger in my stomach, I decided to go to the grocery store to shop for food. I arrived at a busy scene of people trying desperately to get their food, and get out as soon as possible. What caught my attention first was the piercing noise of a little sandy haired boy running out of the store as quickly as his chubby little legs could take him. Screaming at the top of his lungs, he cried and passed me by. His tired looking mother was running after him and calling his name, “Tommy, Tommy!” She was barely keeping up with him with her arms full of groceries. Thinking to myself that this is going to be an interesting adventure, I grabbed my cart and started to shop.

Choosing first to look for some meat, I headed toward the butcher’s section. Passing by a finely dressed man in suit and tie, I noticed he was choosing between Velveeta cheese or the Fry’s brand. With a satisfied look across his face, he placed the shiny box of Velveeta back on the shelf, and tossed the Fry’s brand into his cart. He then picked up his pace and walked down the aisle. I continued on to the meat department and found a nice tender piece of red steak that was rather lean. Looking across the counter, I spied the butcher cutting some pork. His combination of strong arms and his sharp knife easily cut through a half foot strip of bloody meat. As the red juices oozed out the sides, I felt queasy and decided to move along.

As I turned to go to the bakery section to pick out some bread when a rather large woman dressed in a cheap faded blue dress ran into me. Excusing herself, she quickly grabbed a particularly fatty looking piece of meat and tossed it into her cart. Once in the bakery section, I selected a twelve grain loaf of bread. The aroma of freshly cooked cinnamon buns caught my nose, making me salivate. A portly woman across from me hungrily looking for a piece of pie dropped a lemon meringue pie on the floor. Ignoring her blunder, she placed the crushed pie under a better looking pie. Looking around and seeing that I noticed her misdeed, she gave me a guilty look and turned around with her head a little lower and left the scene as quickly as possible. I picked up my list of groceries, checking them off one by one and decided that I had a good supply of food. I headed toward the check out lines and found one that was shorter than the rest, and stood in it.

The gentleman in the aisle next to me caught my attention. He was being smacked across the face by his large, red-faced wife. She raged at him for staring at a half dressed woman on the cover of a magazine. The man apologized pathetically until her storming rage came to an end. Noticing she had made a scene, she went on with loading her groceries on the conveyor belt and proceeded to pay her bill. I did likewise, and pushed my cart toward the exit. I opened my trunk and placed my groceries in. Climbing into my car, I noticed my window had a crinkled blue piece of paper on it. Tearing it from the window, I read, “Chinese food! Lunch for two only $8.00!” Looking around, I spied a young teen with a dirty, white waiters coat on. He placed the slips of paper on vehicles with such speed that you might wonder if that is what he does all day long. I started up my engine, put it in gear, and headed home.

about a book called as a shoped, summery