Weekly grocery shopping day

It is Saturday. Weekly grocery shopping day. This is a long-standing tradition in our family of three members. Every Saturday, without fail, my wife and I go to the market and do our weekly shopping. 

It is not a planned activity. Which might seem strange. Considering that it is a family tradition. The workflow starts something like this. 

Saturday morning, starting at around 9 AM, I start asking,“What time are we leaving?”  I repeat this every five minutes until we leave.

The answer could be one of the following.

‘In five minutes.’ ‘After I hang the clothes out to dry.’ ‘After I finish boiling the milk.’ 

I switch off my laptop and get ready. 

It takes me 5 minutes. I position myself on the chair near the door. 

At 9.30 her mother calls. That is a call she has to take. They discuss topics ranging from death, disease, religion, recent relative visits, possible relative visits in the next five years. 

At 10.15 she disconnects. She starts hanging the clothes to dry when her father calls. They live in the same house, but her parents call separately. 

This will take time, I switch on my laptop. I begin watching a violent movie. 

By 11 AM she is done with her chores, the phone calls and gets ready. 

By 11.15, she is ready and now goes to the store room to fetch the shopping bags.

We have four shopping bags. All jute and of the same color. 

By 1130, we leave the house. Reach the lift when we realize we have not taken the spare keys. We have a rule when leaving the house. Both of us carry a set of keys. We reopen the doors and come in. The phone is ringing again. It is one of her parents who missed out, sharing some important news in the one-hour call they had a few minutes back.

Finally, by 1200, we leave the house.