What Now
By Gene Aronowitz
My wife, Linda, and I were shopping at a local supermarket. We had only three items left to locate: hummus, blueberries, and fish fillets. “I’ll get the fish,” Linda said.
I approached the courtesy counter. “Do you have any hummus?” I asked.
The attendant pointed toward the vegetable aisle. “All the way at the end,” she said.
I found classic hummus where she said it would be and put it in our shopping cart, where we had left it. Then, I returned to the courtesy counter. “You couldn’t find it?” she asked.
“Oh yes, I found it, but now I need some blueberries.” She pointed at the aisle behind me. I went over and picked up a large container of berries. I returned immediately to where the shopping cart had been, but couldn’t find it. Assuming my wife had moved it, I started circling the aisles, looking around. The attendant saw me walking by and asked abruptly, “What are you looking for now?”
“My wife,” I replied, and saw her grin broadly.
A version of this memoir is included in the book 23 More Memoirs.