I have mentioned a time or two that I am what some might call a Publix junkie. Sad, I know, but yes, my favorite store to shop at is a grocery store. Not a department store…not one of those discount stores that I call by a french name rather than a synonym for a bulls-eye. A grocery store. And when I am at said grocery store, I am happy.
Last night just confirmed all notions about my Publix. I say MY Publix, because that’s just what it is…mine. It’s where I choose to shop. I will go into other Publix’s if I am away from mine, but chances are high that I will drive out of my way to go to MY Publix if at all possible.
I picked James up from school and he remembered that I mentioned we would go to the grocery store on the way home. Keep in mind that I have to pass our Publix to get James, then turn back around to get to it. But they give free cookies to the kids and he really likes their cookies. Plus, it gives us a few more minutes together after a rough (which wasn’t so rough) day.
One of my friends made a comment on her Facebook that she was on her way to Publix to watch her son’s chorus sing. Then I remembered that it was their annual Holiday Tasting! WATCH OUT!
They had turkey, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, stuffing, gravy, broccoli casserole, corn casserole, apples with caramel, chilled shrimp cocktail, little hot dogs on toothpicks, egg nog, peppermint ice cream, chocolate covered pretzels… and that’s just what we ate! There was even more than that. And all of my friends (I say friends because that’s what they have become… not employees of Publix, but friends I get to see while shopping at Publix) were dressed up in their Holiday best. I just got one plate, no need to be greedy, and was going to share it with James. Little did I know that he would eat ALL of it, and then some. Yes, my kid ate a dinner of free samples at Publix. And he probably ate more there, with more variety, than he would have if I would have cooked him dinner at home.
But here is where they made my night. Santa Claus was there. Yes, I know, Santa comes to all of the Publix’s each year at this time, but James doesn’t know that. James saw Santa and squealed! I’m talking ‘three year old, can’t contain his excitement, wanted out of the cart’ excitement. Santa came over to him, chatted with him for a few minutes, gave him a candy cane, and we went on our merry way. (Pun totally intended there.)
We made our way around the store again, eating casually as we shopped, and finally, after an hour (yep… a full hour) of chatting and sampling and just having a good ‘ol time we made it to the check out. We were unloading our cart with the groceries I had collected along the way and all of a sudden this scream, this joy, this squeal of delight comes out of my three year old little boy. “SANTA CLAUS!!!!” I’m not lying when I say that time stood still for about five seconds in all of the check out lines in the Baker Road Publix. Cashiers stopped swiping, baggers stopped bagging, and customers stopped loading their groceries on the belt. Every eye was turned to this little boy, who was shaking with excitement, ecstatic at having seen Santa Claus for a second time in one evening. Calling this magical is not even close to what it actually was.
Santa, the good jolly old soul that he is, put down whatever it was that he was doing and headed straight towards us. James’s eyes were the size of lollipops, and he just couldn’t handle it. Santa was coming back to talk to him.
He gave him a hug and asked James if he would like for HIM to push him out to the car with his groceries. Would he ever!!!! It was all I could do to keep James from climbing out of the cart and on top of him. He chatted away, telling him everything that was going through his mind at the time, and once we got to our car, gave him the BIGGEST hug that a three year old could muster up. He let Santa pick him up out of the cart and put him in the truck. Then he told him, “I’ll see you on Christmas Eve… You be good now.” Oh… complete MAGIC.
And that, my friends, is why I love my Publix.
