A trip to the grocery and my new BFF

Those of you who know me IRL know that I am completely OCD. OK - maybe not technically. If you want to get down to it, I'm OCPD. I was actually diagnosed with it seven years ago. OCPD and anxiety. I even took meds for a few years and I do believe they helped save my sanity. I can't imagine going through all of that again without the help of a therapist and meds. I am now off all meds (have been for well over a year), and, to be honest, there are times I question that decision, but for the most part, I'm OK with it. A lot of that is due to the help I received from my therapist who, in addition to those meds, gave me some coping mechanisms that I still employ.

For the most part, the way my compulsivity manifests itself is in my need to do things a certain way and my need to be in control. It has taken YEARS for me to allow The Husband and The Children to assist in household chores. That I allow The Children to fold laundry is HUGE! That I don't go back and refold it is even bigger! OK - I *do* refold some stuff...but only my t-shirts!

Another place my compulsivity rears its ugly head is at the grocery store. I am completely OC about the way I unload my groceries onto the conveyor for the cashier. I must do all my frozen foods first, then my refrigerated items, followed by produce, boxed goods, canned goods, and, finally, any non-grocery item. It puts me over the edge when the bagger mixes grocery and non-grocery items. It also pisses me off when perishables are mixed with non-perishables. HELLO! That's *why* I put them out that way...bag them the way they come to you!

Where we live now, the grocery store I like best does not have a conveyor. The cashier simply takes the items from the cart and rings them up. For this reason alone, I usually go to the self-check out. Today, I had a LOT of stuff so I went to a regular cashier. She and the bagger at her aisle are my new BFFs! The first thing the bagger said to the cashier was, "Please give me all the boxed items first." I knew this was a good sign. The cashier stopped in her tracks and said "Um...how about round stuff first?" The bagger said that was fine as long as she kept things together.

OMG! Was this check-out heaven? I could not believe my ears. I then proceeded to have a lengthy conversation with these two girls about how I like my groceries bagged and the girl bagging was nodding and agreeing the whole way. She was FABULOUS. When I told her it was not necessary to bag my gallons of milk, I thought she'd do a flip out of excitement. I *HATE* when the baggers waste the space in my reusable bags for gallons of milk...especially when I buy 3 to 4 gallons at a time! Once, a bagger put two gallons of milk in a bag and that was all...HUGE waste of my bag!

When it was all said and done, ALL my groceries fit into my four reusable bags and there was only ONE extra bag. She did not bag my milk or orange juice, nor did she bag my bags of apples and potatoes (again, completely unnecessary).

You can believe next grocery trip I am SO looking for those girls again!