new yorkers

everyone says that new yorkers are mean and rude. i never thought that was true - people are just more protective of themselves from others in big cities than in small towns. they're colder but not mean and rude. there are just more strangers you're dealing with on a day-to-day basis so it makes sense.

i was shopping in whole foods on my way home from errands. i had no intentions of going there, but it was there, in front of me - i can't say 'no' to grocery stores that i know or suspect have good yummy stuff. i strolled along the produce section (my favorite) and then the poultry section. i got a chicken and wanted to put it in a plastic bag before taking it to the register - the idea of my canvas bag soaking up raw chicken juice was a little gross. as i was starting to put the chicken into the bag, i noticed that it wasn't as good as i thought it was - the coloring wasn't as fresh as i had thought it was although it was still good. my mother just raised us to be super picky when it comes to paying for food - a bruised apple will cost as much as an unbruised apple so why pay for the bruised apple? so when i returned to the poultry aisle, there was an elderly lady, standing over the packages of chicken. i poked around the section to find a better chicken, and when i pulled out one that i liked, she commented that i had chosen a good one - it was lean and had good color. so we struck up a little conversation - she used to manage a big kitchen. i wanted to ask her where but then figured it must've been a very nice restaurant that i would have no recognition of and couldn't afford. it felt nice to connect with someone having just moved here though, even on a superficial level. it was a moment of feeling at home. not sure when i'd make it to this whole foods again since there's another one closer to where we live, but i'm definitely going to keep this one in mind.