the supermarket, a twist
Mon, June 27, 2011 at 11:17AM 
11x14" paper, pitt pen, watercolor
Driving home from the supermarket, I decided to do an art journal page to resolve some feelings. This is not the norm for me. Usually I just feel like painting or getting messy and I create something. This was different. It really wasn't a big deal, looking back, but it got to me. It started at the supermarket of all places.
"Dear woman with glasses who said I was rude for taking the next turn at the supermarket deli even though I had no idea she was there first or had not ordered because I was analyzing the shopping list my 9 year old wrote, keeping track of the kids, one at the bread counter and the other getting tomatoes and trying to remember if indeed I did need colby-jack or I got it last time we went. I don't keep track of whose turn is next, I assume the deli counter people will serve in some reasonable speed and order. What I should have said was &*(@ you but I just stood speechless."
To be criticized for doing something mean... I'm not perfect but try to be a nice person. I know that the heart of the problem lies with whatever was going wrong for the lady in glasses that day, but it threw me for a loop.
Anyhow, she had a thick New York accent and in the northeast {I'm from PA}, it would likely be seen as rude if the deli counter person asked what you wanted and you ordered in front of the person who was there first... because you WOULD keep track to know when it was your turn. Here in the burbs of DFW, it's not really dog-eat-dog at the deli counter.
an excerpt - the top right corner of the big page
I remember when we moved south {20 yrs ago} and first went to the movies. People formed a LINE to get snacks at the popcorn counter. A line. A line? No mass hovering around the glass vying for your words to be heard? And it's not like there was a cop telling people to form a line. I was in the Twilight Zone with a bunch of orderly mall zombies.
After unloading groceries and making lunch, I wrote THE SUPERMARKET in the center, wrote random titles around the page and started writing without a plan. When I finished writing I drew circles to relax and started painting the circles with a water brush and watercolors, but the color was too light so I switched to a pointed round brush and finished out the page.
I like it.
So tell me...
- When did you create a page specifically to deal with a feeling or issue?
- Do you have blissful supermarket trips?
- How are you today?
- Have you met any orderly mall zombies?
Reader Comments (14)
Hi Tammy...sorry the old bat dissed you over nothing...haha! I guess she was having a bad day...maybe her dog died...who knows...sometimes, there's no reason for rudeness. I am from the south (Arkansas) and I'm told by folks who move into our area that we are a pretty laid back goup. I laughed when I read the comment about forming a line at the movies to get snacks. Here, when waiting in line...it's "you go head, I think you were here first"..."no, you go head"....."go ahead, I'm in no hurry." I have a friend who moved here from Houston and she had to learn how to drive...more slowly. I'm sure you felt better after doing your journal page and I hope your next supermarket trip goes better.
oh, tammy, i'm so sorry you had to experience this. i feel like rudeness when unexpected is so much worse than in any other circumstance; it takes you by surprise and kicks you in the gut. journaling - writing freely - has always soothed me and brought unclear or extreme emotion to a safe place on the page. for some reason, though, i am far better at keeping separate my art journal and the words that lie close to my heart.
i'm glad you have a place to go to find comfort and healing.
love,
It's so upsetting when someone jumps at you for no good reason. People have things going on for them and sometimes snap but it hurts when they take things out on you when you have nothing but good intentions. No excuse really! Yes I have used your card idea to resolve feelings, twice now. Once I was waiting for an important appointment and needed to chill! Today I just felt ....oh I don't know...restless and unhappy for no particular reason. I watched a meditation and drew a lotus flower. Very soothing.
Hope you are feeling better. I absolutely love the card though! What fab handwriting you have and I love the circles.
Supermarket is not too bad for me I just wander around in a daze. I'm probably one of the zombies lol.
I'll post the index cards for today + tomorrow, tomorrow.
Thanks all for your kind words.
Tammy
I made a journal spread to get out my frustration at the infernal, eternal, effing WIND that blows here. Really helped. It was either that or rip someone's eyeballs out.
I'm good today. It's one of my two days off so I'm playing in the studio most of the day. Did chores yesterday.
I actually love going grocery shopping, but only because I chose to make it an activity that I didn't hate. I either make myself a mocha or grab one on the way, and I stroll the aisles looking at this and that as I go. I nod and smile at people, reach down jars for teetery old ladies, and put fallen bags of pasta back on the shelf. I still sometimes zoom thru like a mad woman, but not often.
I don't go to the mall. The mall here is where all the great unwashed masses who don't have A/C go in the summer.
the few times I write about a specific day it's usually in 'crisis mode' . like when the car is toast & have to buy a new one...aargh! grocery shopping ranks right up there with trips to the laundromat (because the washer is on the fritz.) a necessary evil, but usually ok. I am doing well today because the sun is shining and I did my index card drawing first thing! =) and I think I am glad that here in the midwest we line up for stuff...I don't think I could handle a crush of bodies all trying to get waited on at once, though I 'spose it could be exciting. Hope your day gets better! you're right -- it was more a reflection of the type of day the lady in the glasses was having, not about you. thank goodness for art & journals...
sorry that happend to you. People are so rude! Last week my husband came home from the grocery store all disgruntled because he went up to the check out line (which was empty) and some women ran in front of him and placed one item on the conveyer. He says, "there is an express line if you are that big of a hurry to cut in front of me." And the lady just YELLS at him and says that the cashier told her she could run back and get something because she forgot. Meanwhile, her whole order was complete and there was no evidence of the lady telling her that, so my husband was stunned.
Hmm, regarding blissful supermarket trips: I always get a rush just being at a Super Target, so bliss tends to follow. I do become homicidal in-thought with people who doddle. Irony: I am a doddler! ;)
How am I today? Blessed. {After runnin' circles early on ...} And, reading this post made me not only giggle ... I laughed out loud! Love ya' girlie! ♥ You are s-u-c-h an inspiration!
i don't know if I've ever done an art journal page like that... i do them when I'm really sad sometimes (or as someone else said 'crisis mode') - but I write things and then put a 'random' collage *over* that and then see what the whole thing turns into afterwards and try to pull it together into something...
yesterday I pulled a u-turn on an empty street so I could park in the shade - a SMALL street, not even a big one - and as I was doing it, a car came along, pulled up beside me and waited for me, and then the driver said 'great idea, b****' - it was so disturbing and not-in-character with where I live, it really freaked me out... I feel like I didn't want to write about it because it would be somehow repeating his negativity.
the grocery store puts me on the edge of tears most of the time. I feel like I don't know how to shop (it's just for myself) and i'm exposed... so the only thing I can do is wear my iPod & sing the Clash song 'Lost in the Supermarket".
Why didn't you just take a number?
Siren, You are right - I usually don't journal anything negative, and this was just mildly negative so I decided to just write all the stuff about the market that one never even thinks about unless you are there....
Dear confused in NYC: You wrongly assume that there are numbers to be taken. There are not. There is a difference between the way a deli counter works in NYC vs DFW. It's in a supermarket. And there is no corned beef. Or kosher dills. Or potato latkes. Or matzoh ball soup. Or sandwich rye. Or knockwurst. Or decent potato salad. Oh how I miss a real deli.
Tammy
Ohhh I hate going to the store, it's so crowded and people just push their buggies wherever they please even if it's over my foot. But the deli, I avoid the deli. Not because of lines, but because I get nervous when I have to talk to people. So I tend to pay more for deli stuff by buying it prepackaged. It's just a weird system to me... I don't know how many grams of things to get, it's over my head.
I made a layout a couple months ago about my frustrations with those who insist on using their cell phones while driving--most people have a difficult enough time doing one of those singular activities well, let alone simultaneously. It's not only a bad idea, it's dangerous, and I wish it would be banned.
Sorry you had a distasteful experience while at the deli. Glad you were able to work it out through your art. :)
Just found your blog and this post made me laugh. I live in a rural town in the gold country area of California. I shop at the tiny, local owned grocery store. Most everyone knows everyone else so it takes forever to shop because you have to visit a bit with everyone you see. Generally no rudeness here. However, we have a weird intersection downtown that is a three way stop with the fourth way having no stop and the right of way. People (out of towners) are always driving through the intersection causing accidents because they assume the fourth way has to stop. Even though there is a sign posted. Unfortunately I have to drive through this intersection to get to my home. I almost get hit several times a week. Totally understandable, but still frustrating.