Let me swing among those stars

You guys know I'm a huge fan of Quisp cereal, right? I'm such a fan that I actually bought a case of it on Amazon a few months ago. I'm pleased to report three of the original six boxes of that sugary corny goodness remain. Using some murky reserve of uncharacteristic restraint, I allow myself one box per month. Nevermind that I end up eating an entire box in a day. What's life without an occasional binge anyway? It's not like it's heroin or online gambling.

Well. WELL!

It appears that an unnamed chain store has caught on to the fact that there are still Quisp aficionados in this world who crave a return to a simpler time when one could sit cross-legged and sunk into a bean bag chair while wearing Holly Hobby footie pajamas and shoveling those sweet flying saucers of love from bowl to mouth in front of Scooby Doo. Oh to be able to wear footie pajamas again or to sit cross-legged without feeling all gimpy when I stand.

So there I am wheeling my cart around the final bend into the shoot for the cash registers and to what do my wondering eyes should appear?

No, not that miniature weirdo and his eight tiny reindeer. It's June. It was an entire endcap of Quisp!!!

There may have been some Cap'n Crunch and some other lesser cereal, but I only had eyes for the little pink guy with the propeller on his head.

I stopped in front of the display. Should I? I already had three boxes that would technically last me three months, but here were two entire shelves of Quisp offering me a gastronomical visit to1974 and I wouldn't have to pay a cent for shipping costs.

"Mom?" Sophie was impatient. When we left the house for a quick trip into town, she was all for the notion of getting out of the house because there was no one to hang out with. The minute the store's doors swung open for us, she received the first text wanting to know where she was. Her friends were anxious for her to get home to lead the mischief.

"Look! They have Quisp!" My pointing finger working overtime. "Here. And here. Live! In person!"

"Okay, but we have Quisp at home." She tugged on the cart.

I held firm. "But don't you see? We never see Quisp in the store. This is like the moon landing or or..." I struggled to find the right example. "It's like if you were to see Justin Beiber in the hair product aisle!"

She frowned and nodded in my direction. There was a man behind us waiting to get to the cash register.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I was just so overwhelmed to see they had Quisp," I said before pushing the cart into the lane.

The man sort of smiled like you do when you don't want to engage with someone, but you don't want to be rude.

I was still flying high so I told the sales associate how happy I was to see they were carrying Quisp. She smiled as she slid our items over the scanner. Beep. Beep. I could almost hear her thinking that she should get me out of the store quickly. Sophie floated a small distance away to escape my force field of cereal enthusiasm. I was so excited my hands shook a little as I pulled the cash from my pocketbook.

"This is so huge. It's like...." I handed the checker the money and looked at her. She was younger than me. Maybe twenty-five. Okay, a lot younger than me. Okay, I'm old enough to be her mother. What could I say to make her understand? "It's like if you were to see Posh Spice in the shoe section. Or. Or. It's such a big deal I feel like I could hug someone!"

She hesitated before handing me my change. I realized my faux pas and laughed. "I guess I got a little carried away." I glanced around to see how embarrassed Sophie was, but she'd been spared the public humiliation of being seen with me. She'd moved further away to fool around with the wedding registry kiosk, completely unaware that I was suggesting I should, or even could, hug strangers.

I thanked the checker and pulled the cart out of the way feeling like a moron. The man behind me was still unloading his items onto the conveyor belt, but he looked up and caught my eye. "Still looking for someone to hug? I'm buying Quisp."