My Waltz with the Waffle Man

My life here in The Netherlands has become dramatically better with in the last week. Our grocery store C1000 has been sold to a competitor named Jumbo (the J is pronounced like a Y.. just like my last name). It’s a beautiful new market perfectly close to my house. I just bought saddle bags for my bike so I plan to bike to the market to get most of my food. I’ll just have to go more often which is what the Dutch like to do.

As I arrived at our new store ready to explore what new items they were stocking I was greeted by a friendly Jumbo greeter with a magic wand in her hand that she handed to me. It was yellow and shiny and oh so much fun! As I glided around my new store with my pointing, scanning and bagging my goodies all by myself… elation took over my body. I was giddy with delight of having so much power. I would no longer have to avoid eye contact with the other people in line who held a loaf of bread while I checked out my weeks’ worth of groceries, I would no longer have to avoid their glares as I slammed all of my food into bags at the speed of light, over packing and smooshing my bread and eggs in the process.

I would now have the freedom to shop leisurely, scan the price and place it immediately into my bag in the place that worked best for that item. As I turned a corner, my eyes caught a glimpse of a man and a cart. There was music coming from his music/boom box cart. And on the top he was making waffles.  This jolly ole fellow with his tall baker cap was in such a wonderful mood. He was tapping his foot to the music and I smiled as I watched him. What a joy to enjoy your job so much you wanted to dance and smile all day long.

Here’s a little music to help put you in the mood.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mD_uz_kBS1E

Well, he saw me standing there smiling and watching and he reached out to grab my hand. He circled me around and around the Jumbo market all while I laughed and giggled with delight at my new found favorite grocery store.

I checked out within seconds. All I had to do was hand my yellow shiny toy back to the cashier and pay. It was all very painless.

Dancing with the Waffle Man while doing a little shopping ~ pure joy!!