Shopping with the Animals at Rite Aid

It’s official. The hot weather is here. We went from being 20 degrees below normal to breaking heat records – all in the space of two weeks. So today was a beautiful 80+ degree day. I got a good dose of much-needed Vitamin D today, soaking up rays on the Gershwin's second floor sun deck, reading NY Times Magazine. That’s two weekends in a row that I summoned the courage to bare my pale arms! If I keep it up, they won’t be pale for long.

Later this afternoon I went across the street to do a little shopping at Rite Aid – it’s the only store where I can find affordable cereal. Usually they have cereal on sale 2 for $5. I was out of Grape Nuts, so I sorted through my coupons for the first time in a while and trekked across the street.

I am a coupon-clipper. I get that from my mom. I’ve really got to hand it to my parents. One thing they ingrained in us kids was how to save money. My sister Lisa is famous for buying clothes for under ten dollars. Every time I see her, it’s “I paid four dollars for this skirt at Hammer’s,” or “I got these sandals for a dollar-eighty-eight at Hammer’s,” etc. I get such a kick out of Lisa's uncanny ability to remember exactly what she paid for everthing. That must run in the family too.

Anyway, at Rite Aid I was standing in line when a very Italian-looking New Yorker walked in and stood next to the counter near me. He held a snow-white kitty cat on his shoulder. This cat had the biggest, bluest eyes I’d ever seen on a cat. Frank Sinatra eyes. When I asked the cat’s name, the man said, “I’m not sure yet. Maybe snowball." This was one beautiful cat - for a stray.

New York is a pet-friendly city. I’ve seen dogs in that Rite Aid more than once. A couple weeks ago a nice-looking young guy walked in with an African Grey parrot on his shoulder. Later tonight on my way to Central Park for a stroll I saw a man and his daughters watering their three dogs at a small fountain outside the Time Warner building. One of the young girls had a huge, brightly colored Macaw on her arm.

Anyway, the cute kitty in Rite Aid earned that nice man the privilege of moving ahead of me in line to buy his pack of cigarettes. When I got up to the counter, I warned the cashier that I had "a lot" of coupons. After ringing up my items, Ahmed proceeded to carefully scrutinize every single coupon. I must have really thrown him off with the first coupon. It was good for a free 2-liter bottle of Dr. Pepper – a value of up to $1.59. After verifying the $1.79 price on the soda bottle twice with the scanner, Ahmed started reading the coupon aloud: “…free…up to $1.59.” He looked at the cash register, then back at the coupon, then back at the cash register. I tried to help: “That means the coupon is worth $1.59.” After another minute of thought, he carefully folded the coupon at the bar code and scanned it.

Still seven or eight coupons to go.

For each and every coupon, Ahmed rifled through my purchase to find the item matching the coupon, carefully reading the product label and comparing it to the coupon. This was taking some time, so I started holding up the items for him. He seemed skeptical of the lipstick coupon, reading the coupon, and then reading the tiny fine print on the lipstick next to the UPC code. “Maybelline New York,” I assured him. He nodded, folded the coupon, and scanned it.

By the time Ahmed was done totaling my purchase and scanning coupons, Snowball the cat had probably taken in a couple Broadway shows with his new owner.

All in all, I saved over $13 on my one-basket purchase, so it was worth the wait. I think I’ll call and tell my sister.