A funny thing happened to me a while ago. For some reason it just now dawned on me to blog about. Sorry, I'm slow.
At the time, I had switched Yoga studios. I like a vigorous practice and my old studio cut back on classes. Now, as luck would have it, my new studio is two doors down from a farmers market, which is win-win for me.
So I was shopping there every week, and typically I bought a lot of fruits and vegetables, especially fresh greens, like broccoli and spinach. I'm mostly vegetarian, so I plow through a lot of vegetation every week.
I was standing in line that day waiting to pay and when it was my turn, the cashier, who I see every week and never makes small talk, asked me, "Do you work in a restaurant? Because you always buy a lot of stuff."
Now, I'm a social misfit, so I just smirked. I guess a short Italian guy buying huge bunches of produce every week does look like a restaurant owner, especially in New Jersey, the land of delis.
I told her no, and explained that I eat a vegetable-based diet and that I don't eat meat. She wanted to know if I was a vegetarian. I said, "Kind of." And told her my diet is mostly fruits and vegetables and the only animal I eat is fish.
The cashier seemed to get it, but not really. She's Mexican, so she was probably thinking, "Stupid gringo is missing out on good tacos and burritos."
She might be right, but I admit, one little dude buying that much fruits and vegetables each week is unusual. She must have thought I was some sort of human-cow hybrid. And in her mind it might be easier just to eat some carne asada every once and a while.
Trust me, I understand that. I'm 100% Italian, my family is over-the-boat Italian - NOT guido Italian - and so they still look at me funny when I don't eat meatballs or cheese.
So, if you're veg too, has anything like this ever happened to you? Do you go grocery shopping and get mistaken for a sous-chef?
Image credit: No Cookie
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