Inherently, there are always books to be browsed, my favorite being a tired little place called the Bookworm which sells and trades used paperbacks for half the cover price. It is in this Bookworm, last row, bottom two shelves where I found Bobbsy Twins, a wonderful book about bones and Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism.
Window shopping, is that an outing? Suppose it is Fall and school supplies are on sale. There is nothing like new, clean Crayola markers still in a box with matching lids and everyone knows the copper, yellow, and flesh colored markers are the first to run out of color while pink and red are not far behind if you have a Genna Della living at your house. Strange, since it is always the greens and blues that decorate the walls and furniture here. Glue goes fast when you need an entire cup for one serving of Halloween slime and clean erasers work better than dirty ones. Surely, I am not alone in my love for the idea of a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils.
Ah, but you see, it was 11:00 p.m. as I exited Winco grocery store. Daisy’s, the Bookworm, and even Target would not be open to me at this late hour, yet, still I itched for somewhere to go, someone to be, or something to do. I had quick visions of tomorrow – of being tired, and knew my best decision would be to drive slowly home, meanwhile enjoying the serenity of grocery shopping after the children had been tucked in bed. I pushed the cart with the food properly bagged – the eggs whole, the bread shaped like a loaf, the hotdog packages without teethmarks, the popsicles still cold, and all the different kinds of fruit each unbruised and in it’s own bag - towards the door and that is where I saw…the claw, the machine that takes your coins and gives you nothing in return. Not only have I never played the game before, I have never been tempted to. I have no interest in arcades and quarter machines and most often do not even recognize their existence. Somehow motherhood has a way to make unfunny things funny, gigantic messes trivial, days seem longer yet without enough hours in them, and the claw noticeable. I put in my .50 cents, glad to have two quarters I could flush down the toilet, and hoped no one would pass me, familiar or unfamiliar. I was hasty. I was playing the claw game without the excuse of children at my side and I was still unsure if I wanted to play. The ending to this story is a good one. I won a rooster, an ugly little red and pink cock-a-doodle-doo rooster, but that is not the good part. I laughed at myself. I snatched my prize and dashed to my not-so-white minivan, loaded the groceries amongst scattered popcorn left over from last weekend’s outing at the drive-in and smiled the whole time I did it. I laughed at me part of the way home. I had played the claw all alone at 11:00 p.m. at Winco’s grocery store and won a rooster.
