Grandma Lu's Most Embarrassing Day

 "Oh how I love to go to flea markets. Today is cold, but it is beautiful. The sun is shining and people are smiling! January has been one of the longest months I can remember. Oh I guess January seems like a year most years." 

She was on a mission to find a tiny shelf for the downstairs. It needed to be taller than wider and have about three shelves. "I'll probably never find one, but that's okay. It's just good to get out and get some fresh air."

As she dodged little ones and racks of clothes she noticed some racks of shoes. One pair caught her eye. She walked slowly over and touched the shiny surface. It was a black patent leather sandal. It was exactly like a pair her mother used to wear. "She loved those sandals. Funny she didn't wear them out. In fact she had a purse to match. Patent leather was so popular even in the sixties and seventies. How I remember my black patent diaper bag and purse. They almost matched which was about the end of me. I swear I will never forget that day!"

"That morning my husband then had given me fifty dollars to go grocery shopping for the week. Fifty dollars in those days would buy all the meat and staples we would need and probably have money left over. He went to work and so did I. My work was getting my little one fed, bathed, dressed and diaper bag filled with what I may need. I had gotten everything ready and put in the car including my little girl, Melanie. She was a cutie pie, but filled with energy. She had just mastered the art of walking and loved to show off her new talent.

The grocery store was small compared to the big shopping centers nowadays, but it was large enough to have everything that we needed and most of all it was close to where we lived. I knew the manager and a lot of the checkers there. I can still see them make over my new baby the first time I took her shopping with me.

 After I found a parking spot close to the door I got out and put my handbag over one shoulder and Melanie on my other. I found a cart outside close by. I coaxed Melanie into riding in the front of the cart and we were ready to shop.

I made the rounds of the store slowly. Slowly because my little girl was a pill this particular day. She would cry wanting to walk instead of riding in the cart. Then she would cry wanting to ride in the cart. It seemed I did more in and out of the cart with her than I did with the groceries that I picked out. After I had crossed off the last of the things that I needed my heart almost stopped. My purse was gone!

I put Melanie in the cart and I retraced my steps over and over. Finally the manager came to me and said, "Mrs. Grafing may I help you? You seem very distressed. I said, "Distressed? I sure am. Someone has stolen my purse. I turned my back to get my little girl and discovered that my purse was gone." 

Of course, I started to cry and then Melanie started to cry. The manager immediately went to the front and had all the doors locked. He was determined to find the thief.  He got on the loud speaker and announced that a black patent purse had been lost and if anyone found it would they please bring it to the front of the store. I had been told to stay where I was while the employees did their searching. After a bit the manager came back to me and said, "Now, would you tell me again what your handbag looked like?" I said, "Yes, it looks just like this diaper bag. It is  black patent leather." Then he said, "Does it look like the one on your shoulder?"

As she walked out of the little flea market she chuckled to herself. She had told that story so many times over the years especially to her now grown daughter. It was the worst and most embarrassing day of her life. Now it was the funniest because that twenty-three year old mother went on to have many more days with her children that would embarrass her to no end, but none that ended up having a whole grocery store locked down.