Last week I thought I would pop into the supermarket and get snacks. I normally don't bother with snacks because if I have them in the house, I'll just eat them. Not that that's not the point, just that I don't tend to graze and creating a habit like that is just asking for trouble. So I don't normally have that kind of food in the house. But today, I wanted snacks - Grainwaves, in particular, and Coke. So I thought I would pop down to the supermarket and pick up those items and some cat food for the cat I was minding.
Parking my car, I was mildly surprised there were quite a number of cars in the carpark. I checked the clock and it was 6:50pm and I figured maybe there were a lot of people doing their grocery-shopping this evening. I hopped out of the car, locked it and made my way to the shopping centre. Passing the pet shop, I noticed it was open. Always needing to check the Pet Shop I glanced inside, surprised it's doors were still open. I figured they must be stocktaking or just locking up because it was well past 5pm normal shop closing.
After a moment in the doorway I asked "Are you still open?" The girl behind the counter looked up and said they were still open. I tentatively entered the shop, wanting to check the kitten section "It's weird that you're open, and the knitting shop next door is open too!" the girl looked puzzled "that's unusual isn't it? what's going on?" I asked. She still looked puzzled and I rabbited on "I mean, what's the time? it's late, right? thought it's a real treat for *me* because I like your kitten corner but kinda sucks for *you* to still be here this late." The girl leaned to the cash register and checked the clock on the display. "It's only seven o' clock" she said. "Yeh - but that's _late_ for you to be open, don't you normally shut at 5pm?" I was like a broken record.
Then it dawned on me, all the thoughts fell into place "It's late night shopping!" she nodded and suddenly it all made sense. Here's me thinking it was Tuesday and it was Friday. And yes, I did say the Tuesday/Friday thing out loud while laughing at myself AND smacking my hand on the counter. She didn't seem to find the whole thing quite so amusing.
Arg, I hate when my confusion leaks out all over unsuspecting shop assistants.