I played it cool, I didn't go right to the meat counter, I sauntered through produce, looked at some yellow potatoes and some sweet onions. I nonchalantly put the sweet onions, the potatoes and the carrots into the blue cart I was pushing around, then proceeded to check out the canned goods, the bakery, a brief stroll through frozen foods, and then, I took a deep breath, through my head back, and approached, not the garden of Eden, but the .............. meat counter ........... all eyes were on me, I could feel them, I could feel that they were all wondering, would he stop at the beef section, or hurriedly walk by.
I casually walked up to the chicken section, prices were high, I got several packages which we could split up before freezing them. Oh, look, fresh sausage, OMG only two dollars. I didn't want anyone to see my excitement, I casually picked it up and gently set it in the cart. What else could I afford, oh, the chicken giblets, two dollars, get that, Italian sweet sausage, good for spaghetti sauce. I had done well, but.
Beef, I wanted beef, it had been so long, it is so expensive, but maybe, just one more time, I'm 81, the Dating Game, Lange, just died, he was 81, you just never know. And then I saw it, a roast, I didn't care what kind, eight dollars, I grabbed it and buried it under my other groceries, I looked around, I saw some women leering at me, but I had won. The beef roast was mine.
As we approached the checkout line, I felt people watching me, I pulled out all of the other items, and then at last, with a regal gesture, I pulled out the BEEF ROAST, I had to do that, and gently placed in on the conveyer .... to the applause of those around me. In a presidential gesture, I turned and waved, just a slight movement of my arm, the gesture of a true winner. I owned a beef roast.
It was delicious, roasted it in the oven with onion, potatoes, carrots, just salt and pepper, I wanted nothing to overwhelm the taste of the beef. We ate dinner in the living room, watching Jeopardy and the Wheel, and I could not help but notice, a few neighbors, peeking in our window. I didn't just cut the meat with my knife, I slowly sliced it, as if I was eating something really luxurious and expensive, OH, I was, Roast Beef.
What a great day, Roast Beef for dinner .............................
