Publix Stumbling

Okay, I admit it; I am a klutz. But this time, it really wasn't my fault. First of all, I'm not even sure what city I was in. On Saturday night, my son's girlfriend (GF) and I went out for iced tea and orange juice while my youngest two sons stayed in the Winter Park apartment. Tea is usually the only thing I drink, and I'd gone most of the day without any. I dilute it to the point that it is mostly water, but I like having a little flavor. Sometimes I lemon it up a bit, but plain is fine too. I realized the minute we left the apartment that I had left my phone inside, but GF said she had hers. When we got on the road, I asked her to find the nearest Publix.

She said it should be to the right, but then said that her phone thought we were still in Jacksonville. If you've spent much time in Florida, you probably know that you can hardly drive ten minutes without seeing a Publix, especially if you're in a city. We went about fifteen miles down the road and finally found one. That was okay; we were chit-chatting along the way and it was good to get out of the apartment for a while. (My sons were playing video games.)

When we got inside, we decided it would be nice to pick up a birthday cake for my youngest, whose birthday was Sunday. The bakery guy said we were the nicest customers he had had all day. I said we were on a mission to spread joy, or something equally silly, and he said we were doing a good job. As we walked to the front of the store, my foot hit something and slid out in front of me and I went down hard. GF said she wasn't looking at me but noticed I had stopped talking. I said, "Yeah, if I ever stop talking, you know something's wrong." She looked up -- she's very short -- and didn't see me, and then saw that I was on the ground. A very nice man came over to ask if he could help, and then another. Amazingly, I still had the groceries in my hands. I was a bit stunned but unhurt.

As I got up, I noticed that there was some really disgusting goo all over my foot. Apparently whatever had been on the floor had been scraped up by my flip-flop when my foot caught it. GF said, "It looks like --" I cut her off. "I know what it looks like." It was really nasty, and I think (hope) it was yogurt. At least five people came over to make sure I was okay. One was a Publix employee, but the others were just shoppers, just nice people. Later, GF said she thought my hip had gone out. "It happens to my grandma all the time!" "How old do you think I am?" I asked her. Good lord. Anyway, my butt is bruised up, but of all the ways I could have fallen, that way was the best. And for once, I was graceful as I went down. In fact, I wouldn't mind seeing the video.