ROCKY XIV

I don't like shopping at WalMart, but it's the cheapest place in town for groceries, so I go.

Our WalMart is fairly new and large, so the feeling of grayness must come from some atmospheric condition or the lighting - it just doesn't look clean or fresh or sharp, like Target does.

There always seems to be about six screaming toddlers in carts - two of them with the parents' yelling being louder than the kids.

There are way too many young grandmothers pushing around the babies while the teenage moms pick out food items.

There are adorable senior citizens walking along hand-in-hand, comparing prices to fit in with their Social Security income.

And a whole bunch of them are middle-aged shoppers racing in to get the items necessary to get dinner made in twenty minutes.

So where did I fit in with this crowd, at least today?

Today, I was the older woman with tissues stuffed up her nose, with enough blood stains to rival the Rocky movies.

I got a bloody nose on the drive into town, and simply could not shake it - not with tissues, not with pinching the bridge of my nose.... it would stop for a few minutes, then begin right up again.

From the original Rocky movie:

Mickey: Your nose is broken.

Rocky: How does it look?

Mickey: Ah, it's an improvement