For the first few minutes we are together, I in the yellow covid customer circle, he behind the register, we talk about food. He loves the cauliflower pancakes and he hopes I will, too. Then he calls out my shirt, which says “Fight Evil, Read Books.” I could play devil’s advocate about your t-shirt, but I won’t. And he doesn’t. Instead, he pivots to an estate sale he attended, where he scored an original Edgar Allan Poe. He never returns to his objections to my t-shirt. It’s okay, I love his story, probably more than I will love the pancakes.
Susanna Baird loves Trader Joe’s, but has only been once during the pandemic. The cauliflower pancakes are still in her freezer. Website: susannabaird.com Twitter: @SusannaBaird Instagram: @susanna.baird