From the Heart
If you ever wonder what a mess it would be if an entire bag of grout tore open as you lifted it off the counter at the register … just ask me.
Oh yes, it happened.
My husband often recites the quote, “No good deed goes unpunished.”
I understood that all too well as I did some shopping for a project at my grandson’s house, the house where I grew up. Thus, the good deed.
The punishment? Well here’s the story. Not exactly the condensed Reader’s Digest story, but here goes …
My son, Brandon, had just left the large home improvement building that I will not name. I told him just to go and take the large items to the house.
I assured him that I would be fine. I was wrong. He should know, after all these years of fixer-upper projects, that he should never leave me unsupervised.
As I lifted the bag of grout into the cart, the bottom of the bag literally came apart and exploded all over my dress, my legs and covered my shoes entirely.
The cashier looked at me and said, “I guess we need to get you another bag.”
I slowly looked behind me and there were at least five people with carts FULL of stuff standing behind me looking at me as if I had done it on purpose. If looks could kill …
The front-end manager, a sweet lady, took charge. She had a young stocky guy getting me a new bag of grout. Another young man ran up with a large broom. She told the cashier to close down her register #3 and had everyone behind me move to register #8. Oh yes, FIVE registers over.
As the cashier finished ringing up my small pieces of trim for the tile, she noticed one was chipped. She told me she could not ring it up and allow me to just go get another one. I would have to go back to the other side of the store where the tile department is located. Once I found one that was not chipped, I would need to get back in line.
Brandon had picked out the trim while I meandered through the aisles. I would need to find not only the area where tile is located but the shelf it was on AND the exact trim piece I needed. I was lost before I even started.
I finally located the trim and was on my way with everything I needed – plus quite a story to tell.
There is more to this fixer upper story, but let’s just say again … no good deed goes unpunished.