Baby Teaches Life, Gives Experience

He was a year old and they couldn't have been more than a couple of weeks older.

I'm joking of course, but to my wizened eyes, the couple were babes in the woods.

I unintentionally met them on several aisles, you know the grocery dance, where you see the same people over and over. In the cracker and cookie aisle the baby bit the mother on the arm and she brushed it off with an "ouch" and sigh. She looked tired, like she might have been up with the baby the night before, or had been awakened earlier than she would've liked.

After they'd moved on, an acquaintance found a dollar on the floor and went to ask the couple if they'd dropped it. I was sure the dollar was theirs, even wanted it to be theirs because they probably needed every penny they could get. But no, they hadn't lost any money, and the acquaintance stuck the dollar in his pocket.

The couple and I continued our awkward dance on the next aisle. The young man was looking for a certain type of rice. "Miss," he said to me. "Do you see the instant rice that comes in a clear bag?" I figured he called me "Miss" to be polite, but that he also probably thought I was old enough to know such things.

I scanned the shelves looking for a clear bag of rice, but really had no idea what he was talking about. I wanted to find the rice, to help them, even as I wondered why it mattered to me. "We'll come back," the young woman said authoritatively and they left.

We didn't meet again until we got to the dairy case. Somehow they'd gotten behind me, but now they approached as I looked at the cheese.

"Do you want some block cheese, baby?" he asked the woman. Her answer was a swift, sure "No," as she made a selection of her own.

"Ain't none of this stuff cheap, is it?" he asked, as if noticing the prices for the first time.

I doubled back around for yogurt and as the woman shopped, he played with the baby, making silly faces and noises. "I'm just going to leave you both in here!" she shot out in exasperation as the silly sounds continued. I caught the young man's eye and smiled, although he wasn't quite sure how to respond.

They reached the checkout before I did, getting ready to leave as I reached the register. Suddenly the baby began to choke, drawing everyone's attention. The parents were calm and the baby was ok after a few seconds, not even crying. After the couple left, I learned the mother had given him a sweet tart.

"He's too young for that," said a cashier, and others agreed that a small piece of hard candy was not good for a baby.

I wouldn't have given him a sweet tart either, but knew that no matter how much others might advise or want to help them, the young couple would have to forge their own path, wherever it might lead.