Stepping Out of the Comfort Zone

My parents were in town recently to help around the house and spend some time with me (they don't get to see me but a few times a year). My refrigerator and pantry are pathetically stocked for company. Drinks: water, bottled spring, tap, or distilled; milk, skim; margarita mix. Food: fat free plain yogurt; eggs, 7; cheese, sliced cheddar, parrano wedge; snow peas; broccolini; sprouted grain english muffins; strawberries, oranges, grapefruits, apples, bananas. No alcohol to go with the margarita mix. No diet coke for my addicted mother. No juice. No real bread to speak of. Pathetic hostess I am. (I won't even tell you about forgetting to make up the guest bed - oops!)

So my poor mother wanted a diet coke. We went to Whole Foods earlier in the day, but they don't carry products with artificial sweeteners like aspartame, so no diet coke there. She wanted to know how far she had to walk to get a diet coke.

BW: Well there is the Save-a-Lot at the end of the street. About 4 blocks. But I have never been in there and the in-laws said it was scary when they went in 4 years ago.

Mom: OK. I'm sure they have diet coke. You're going with me.

BW: Hmmm.

We walked the 4 blocks, it was a gorgeous day, perfect weather I ordered up special. Then crossed the big neighborhood street (jaywalking is mandatory in this middle city). Crossed the broken down cars in the parking lot. As we entered the store, I thought, "I have lived in this neighborhood for 4 and a half years, and I have managed to stay out of this store, but there is no going back now."

We made our way through the aisles made of stacked boxes. No frills. Simple signs. Very different from the upscale Whole Foods of suburbia. Down the first aisle we found a reason t return: authentic eastern European and Mexican food. My opinion of this white-trash, inner-city, can't-get-a-decent-latte store changed quite quickly. OK. So you can't get a latte there, but they did have some sort of latte snack bars.

Of course, they had the diet coke.

And I might even go back to get some tortillas.

I wonder what other little gems I've been missing out on by sticking rigidly to my routine.