cookies & milk

i went to the co-op to get some cookies and milk because, well, that's just how things are. a person needs cookies and milk from time to time and it was time. the co-op is now the big store in the hood so even though milk is more than $4.50 for a half gallon, i went.

when i got there i went straight to the paul newman cookie section. i love paul newman. sure, his movies are nice, but the man runs a great company. cereal. pasta sauce. salsa. popcorn. coffee. tea. snacks. cookies. mints. dog food. our dogs discovered paul newman during the great dog food poisoning scare. you've got to have a little more faith in a dog food company that tells you the name of the farm where they grow chickens for the food. look, the chickens lead a better life than most people i know and happy chickens are tastier. so at our house we love the paul newman, his "shameless exploitation in pursuit of the common good" and his cookies. i knew the sweetie was expecting mint oreo-style cookies but i saw some soft cinnamon cookies we'd never tried sitting right above them. i'm grown. i can buy what i want. i got both.

i strolled up to the register with the two bags of cookies, some of that solid gold milk and a cup of yogurt or two. the teenage girl at the register said hello, then started singing softly. whiskers on kittens. bright copper kettles. schnitzel with noodles. she didn't sing the way teenage girls sing, all trilling and woobly and over the top. just soft and very simple. sweet. but then the teenage boy bagging up my cookies joined in. not what you'd call a confident singer, but his voice next to hers sounded like it should be there. and they were singing a song from the sound of music. it made me laugh. she smiled and said they were trying to make people feel happy. i've never thought about teenagers working together, while at their grocery store jobs, trying to make anyone feel happy. but i was, so i said thank you. as i walked out, she turned to the boy and said, "when rod stewart did a cover of that song it was awesome!" and i giggled the whole way home.

i don't usually plug the companies, but i think mr. newman and i vote similarly. for more information on the sassy paul newman go to: http://www.newmansown.com there's more stuff at the newman's own organics section. i can't guarantee your check out person will sing just because you're buying mr. newman's cookies. maybe.