Day 3: Shopping Cart

Ooooh! I'm excited about tonight's writing exercise. I'm supposed to pretend that I'm a cashier at a grocery store and make lists of shopping cart ingredients--10 carts, for 10 people. Then I'm supposed to write a brief description of each person (example; man, 64, widower) and write what the contents of their cart say about them. I'm supposed to make big assumptions and judge these shoppers by what is in front of me. She says, "As you visualize the items purchased by your customers, think about their lives, the homes they will be returning to with all this stuff, what their families are like, and who they really are." (Goody.)

Go.

Woman, 34, no ring on her left hand
Shopping cart: Frito Lay potato chips, Little Debbie snack cakes, Ben n' Jerry's Chubby Hubby ice cream, 6 pack diet Coke, diet pills, latest issue of "Cosmopolitan" magazine.

Woman, 42, tank top and workout pants, pedometer
Shopping cart: Organic strawberries, Fiji bottled water, camera batteries, sunscreen.

Man, 29, five young children, uses coupons
Shopping cart: fruit snacks, peanut butter, half eaten box of animal crackers, Shout stain remover, bananas, Advil, condoms, generic "Fruit O's" cereal, 4 gallons of milk, 2 dozen eggs, 4 loaves of store-brand wheat bread, economy size Arm and Hammer detergent, 2 pound block of cheddar cheese, Gerber brand baby food, Pedialyte.

Couple, mid-20s, holding hands
Shopping cart: spaghetti sauce, expensive fresh pasta, French bread, grapes, Martinelli's sparkling cider, fresh parmesan cheese--ungrated, long-burning fire log, single red rose.

Woman, 80
Shopping cart: tin foil, Postum, moist cat food, crysanthemums, whole cloves.

Man, 30s
Shopping cart: 1 dozen glazed donuts, 1/2 gallon orange juice, Tums antacid.

Little Boy with his mother, 5, pays in change
Shopping basket: Wrigley's doublemint gum

Woman, 29, spit up on her left shoulder and circles under her eyes
Shopping cart: Similac formula, baby Tylenol, Huggie Jumbo Pack diapers--size 2, bananas, apples on special, strawberry Jello, clearance bin raspberry vinagrette.

two teenage boys, 16-ish
Shopping basket: JOLT soda-pop, black hair dye, toilet paper.

man, late 60s, very friendly and asks about your day
Shopping basket: TV dinner, Luden's cough drops, one orange, one avocado, one pear, one can black olives, light bulbs, birthday card "For My Grandaughter, on her 9th birthday."