Hello, Mrs. Starcrunch!

I have a pretty big family and a pretty big grocery bill to go along with it. I frequent my grocery store nearly everyday for something. Its great that I can see the store from my back door and I can walk there in 5 minutes....although I only walk if I am not buying many items. Over the last 3 years I have gotten on a first name basis with most of the employees at the store. That's unusual but nice, considering that it's a national chain store, and not a small town. It's one of the few things that makes me feel like I am not just another face in this great big world. But while I know their first names, most of the employees don't call me by my name. They call me something entirely different.

When I was pregnant with Josie, and first moved to the area I went into the store on a day that I was craving a particular snack product. I hunted high and low, but it was not to be found. I went to the customer service desk to inquire about its location, and the manager directed me to the snack company's stock man, as he was in the store. As luck would have it, at that moment he was approaching the desk to speak with the manager. I asked about the snack cake, but he didn't have ANY!!! None on the truck, none in the store....NOT FOR THE PAST 3 WEEKS, he said! He offered to put them on order for the next delivery later that week. But I explained that my cravings were not consistent and that I would probably want something different the next day, let alone 3 days away. The store manager apologized and I told her it was ok, but I was going to have to go to the competing store down the street because I had to have a Starcrunch right that minute! She laughed and told me she completely understood.

I did get my Starcruch that day, but something else I got was a nickname for my baby and myself. To most of the employees Josie is "Starcrunch" and I am "Mrs. Starcrunch"! I have even been paged over the store's P.A., "Mrs. Starcrunch, please come to the front of the store." Over the years the nickname has stuck and even new employees know me as Mrs. Starcrunch. But something else that happened is that I am treated more like a friend first and a customer second. Its quite nice. It's like the theme song from the 80's show, Cheers. "Sometimes you wanna go, where everybody knows your name". Even if it is "Mrs. Starcrunch" and although it may be the grocery store.....it still feels good.