A Trip to the Commissary

A change of venue since I am out of town!  As I look around, there are a variety of people.  There are soldiers, their significant others and children all over the place here at Fort Blue.  One soldier in particular, is tall, with dark hair, and a buzz cut.  His rank insignia marks him as a Sergeant First Class.  His wife stands next to him as he carries her bags.  She is slightly shorter than him, maybe around five foot four, and has her hair thrown up into a bun.  She looks at her pregnant belly and pats it softly, then continues into another store.  He trails in behind her until he drags her back out to sit down for a moment.  Her breathing rate starts to increase, and he begins to look a little paranoid.  He takes out his phone, and calls someone, and just nods his head as the person on the other end talks.  As he’s talking, a small crowd gathers to check on the situation, and he shoos them away from his wife.  He loudly shouts “I don’t want that! I’m taking her!” and supports her as they walk out together.  A bystander grabs her bags and follows them out the door.

After that, I went into a store to do some shopping of my own.  I notice a woman on her phone not really minding her child.  I’m assuming she’s the spouse of an armed service member.  Her child looks to be no more than six years old.  He has a messy head full of dirty blonde hair, and blue eyes, and looks almost identical to his mother.  He’s wearing basketball shorts and a red and white striped shirt that looks like he has already stained with today’s lunch.  She stops in the middle of the main aisle for a second as she looks at her phone.  The child wanders into the next aisle, and when she looks up and does not see her child, a look of sheer panic inhabits her face.  She looks around her, and he is nowhere to be seen.  “Mark, honey, where are you?” she calls, but the boy does not answer.  Finally she peers into the aisle that he wandered into and she finds him.  She looks down at him and scolds him in a manner that could only be described as overdramatic.  The kid begins to cry as the mother puts him in the basket.  She gives him the well-known “mom look” and he stops almost immediately.

I notice an older couple shopping for groceries as I approach the other side of the store.  The man wears a “Vietnam War Veteran” hat as his wife points out the things that they need.  They are in the frozen food area of the commissary, and he points out the ice cream.  She scolds him and reminds him of his diabetes.  “The doctor will kill both of us” and she walks off.  She keeps grabbing things that are healthy, but also pulls a few unhealthy things here and there.  The unhealthy selections are, I’m assuming, for their grandkids, as she had told her husband “no” to similar things that she was tossing in the basket.  She must be the one that is always on top of her husband as well as the doctor.  Not only that, but when he is not looking, she displays a look a worry, possibly from her husband’s deteriorating health, which was apparent by the way he walked and his overall size.  He sort of dragged his left leg, which could be a result of a possible stroke.  He had a left lazy eye, and grey hair that was beginning to turn white.  He also used a cane to get around, which seemed to be worn.  A metal cane would probably be more supportive of this man, as he was a rather large gentleman, or maybe even a scooter.  He did not seem enthusiastic about his wife’s choices in groceries, but went with it nonetheless. 

There were many different people here at Fort Blue.  Some were old and experienced while others were young and barely starting off life.  A woman learned to stop paying attention to her phone, while another young man experienced the panics a woman can go through during pregnancy.  Although this time went by fast, it was a time well spent.