the contextual life

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School / Kathleen Flinn

Normally, I do not stalk people in grocery stores.

I confess to the occasional practice of supermarket voyeurism. But who doesn’t sometimes notice the curious collections of fellow shoppers, then contemplate what they may reveal about them?

What goes on in the home of a hunched, graying woman with nineteen cans of cat food, iceberg lettuce, a family pack of steaks, and a copy of In Style magazine? Or a young woman in full stage makeup oblivious to the world outside her headphones, a pack of tofu hot dogs among the contents of a hand basket nestled in the crook of her tattoo-littered arm? Or an elegant man with a perfect manicure who lingers over the imported cheese counter, his cart filled with organic greens, expensive olives, and four bottles of champagne? Every grocery cart tells a story.

The Kitchen Counter Cooking School / Kathleen Flinn