Not for Vegetarians, a story

Last Saturday I spent a few hours with a friend in Hillcrest looking at clothing, eating donuts, and then grocery shopping. Before I get to the story a little background is needed. Hillcrest is known for a few things. The first is that it has some really good restaurants: India Palace (my favorite Indian restaurant in San Diego), Bronx Pizza, Crush, … and those are just what I named off the top of my head. Also, I have always wanted to visit LaVache. Second, it seems to have a younger crowd of people wandering about and would make a far better college town for UCSD than the current UTC. Another thing Hillcrest is known for (and this is salient for the story's context) is being the most gay-friendly town in San Diego (as far as I know, although if someone wants to correct me please feel free to say otherwise).

After we had walked around trying on clothing and I get my orange-glazed donut (don’t knock it till you have tried it) we go to Trader Joe's. I was buying ingredients for a chicken tagine dish among other things. My guy pal purchases his groceries ahead of me and is idling and looking at the floral arrangements beyond the check out line. As the cashier passes the my chicken over the scanner it drips liquid onto the counter and he basically flips out: "hold on, you chicken is dripping!" He then puts the chicken in a plastic bag and whips out some Trader Joe's antibacterial spritzer napalming the counter and his hands.

Up to that point my interaction with the cashier has been the general Trader Joe's friendly chit-chat that seems to be part of the company's manifesto. So I am somewhat concerned by his distress and ask"oh, sorry, are you a vegetarian?" I go on to explain that I had a roommie in the past who would get somewhat squeamish around raw meat so I can sympathize if he feels icky about touching meat.

"No, I'm not a vegetarian. I’m just afraid of salmonella. Actually I eat meat. In fact," he then pauses for effect and smiles at me "I like meat a whole lot more than the average guy". Ah, yes, the things you learn. Of course had I been a little quicker on my feet I could have pointed to my guy pal who at this point if off in his own little world and say "So does he."

BTW: the picture above has nothing to do with the Trader Joe's part of the trip. Take a look at the guy on the bike. While walking around I was passed by a guy on a bike with his cat riding on his shoulders. This is the only photo I took after my brain processed this and I ran after him for a shot.