Motorized Shopping

Well, the phone just rang and pack meeting is running long, so that leaves me a minute to relate the memory I referred to a minute ago but have never written down...

Backtrack to July 2002--another HOT summer and me in my 3rd pregnancy, about 8+ months along with Connor... Rick was getting ready for a scouting trip and he and I had gone to Sam's Club to shop for all of the food. Well, I was painfully waddling around, similar to what I'm doing these days, when I saw an elderly person shopping on one of those motorized shopping carts. I probably made some kind of longing remark and Rick tried to convince me to get my own cart. I could obviously benefit from one. Naturally, I was WAY too sheepish to ask for such a thing and we went on our shopping way, aisle by aisle. On one particular aisle, probably 15 minutes into the trip, Rick ran to grab something on a neighboring aisle. He was gone for quite a few minutes and just when I was really starting to wonder what happened to him, I heard a wimpy honk. I turned to see Rick puttering toward me, beeping, on an actual motorized shopping vehicle, with his foot ever-so-keenly dangling off the side to look more legitimate. I'm lucky my water didn't break from the laughter.

It was the funniest, most mortifying surprise ever and I loved every bit of that 3 mph shopping trip. I've been sorely tempted, but never brave enough to request one since. That's why I truly believe motorized carts should be standard issue after about 36 weeks of pregnancy. That and a handicap sticker for the car. There would be nothing surprising or embarassing about it. Just much happier pregnant ladies in stores. Of course, my motorized shopping vehicle would need to be more of a train, with carts for the kids and room for more than 7 groceries. It'd be fun for the whole family.