The Big Three: Groceries!

The world can be a crazy place. Sometimes it helps to step back and list a few of the things you’re grateful for. I’m making it a habit each week to list three blessings. Here’s what I’m grateful for this week, August 17-23.

What I’m grateful for:

—Laugh and the world laughs with you. Sharing a laugh with a friend.

—Basic economics. My wife and I were shocked this week when we went to the grocery store. We were there just to pick up a few things. Like most people, we were shocked by how expensive food prices are. We bought milk, eggs, bread, ground beef, and a few odds and ends and our bill was over $300. After we had unpacked everything at home, though, we were grateful for a full refrigerator. Not everyone is as fortunate.

—Letting yourself be a kid. Two weeks ago, my wife and I were wasting five minutes before we had to cross the street and pick up the pizza we had ordered. We went into a hardware store. When we were leaving, she saw me look wistfully at the gumball machine in a far away corner. She must have read my mind. “I have a quarter if you want one.” She didn’t have to ask me twice. Hell, yea! I may be in my late 50s, but I still got my gumball. Two of them to be precise. Being an adult is hard work. Sometimes you have to chuck the responsibilities and let yourself be a kid. I’m grateful for those rare opportunities.

What gave me a smile?

Now that’s going to be a late fee. A library book has been returned more than 80 years after it was borrowed from a Texas Public Library. “Your Child, His Family, and Friends” by Frances Bruce Strain was checked out in July 1943 and due back 28 days later. The book was returned to the library in June 2025 with a note saying that “I hope there is no late fee for it because Grandma won’t be able to pay for it anymore.”

Fortunately for the borrower The San Antonio Public Library does not charge late fees for overdue books. It eliminated overdue fines in 2021 to break down financial barriers for its patrons.

Who knows what the borrower was thinking, but maybe he or she was taking the Good Will Hunting approach to education. If you recall, Matt Damon’s character in the movie had the perfect line: “You wasted $150,000 on an education you could of got for $1.50 in late fees at the public library.”

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44 thoughts on “The Big Three: Groceries!”

  1. your wife knows you so well and sounds like a wonderful person, ‘the gumball incident’ is proof of that. and I love that libraries don’t charge

    Liked by 1 person

  2. I like being grateful and along with it I think of people who don’t have and pray someday they know the feeling of having.
    I give gratitude for running water, a flushing toilet, and food in my refrigerator because sadly there are those in the US that don’t have the same.
    Our groceries fluctuate weekly (my husband shops) but we do budget $300 a week for the 2 of us!

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    1. My mother used to say to us all the time to be grateful for little things . . . running water, flushing toilet, the basics. Once as a kid, we had some well issues at our house. I remember that week being the longest week. Oh, so happy when we got the bathroom back. Ha, ha. It’s good to be grateful for things, one of the reasons I started writing my saturday blog.

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  3. I love that clip from Good Will Hunting! I am amazed at how much groceries have gone up in price in North America. We spend half that amount here in Spain. I love that you got to spend money at the gumball machine.

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  4. Oooh, perfect movie line for that story, Brian! I still love my gumballs too. In fact, we’re going to the toy store today – thanks for the reminder to bring quarters.

    P.S. totally agree about grocery prices. Yikes!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. I haven’t noticed an increase in groceries. I used to feel like I was making a car payment every time I went shopping. I think I must be buying a whole lot less. Or mabe it’s because my husband took over most of the shopping since my ankle surgery. 😅 I love your gum ball story.

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  6. I heard in a podcast that keeping a gratitude list not only helps a person mentally and emotionally, but has actually been proven to improve physical ailments as well. So, good on you, Brian. And this is a great list. When my family comes home from the store and takes several minutes putting away our food for the week, and lots of it, we sometimes point out to our children how blessed we are to be able to afford all this food. We should never take it for granted. But also, yes. The price of food is ridiculous these days.

    The gumball story is my favorite, though. What a good wife you have. And absolutely you should indulge in a childhood activity every now and then. Good on you, Brian!

    Super cute story about the book, though, too. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Yes, my wife is awesome! She puts up with a crazy husband. Ha ha. And yes, I think putting this list together each week has made me appreciate things more. I’m still incredibly sarcastic and snarky but find that I see the good in things too. 🤣🤣🤣😎

      Liked by 1 person

  7. The sticker shock of groceries these days is just nuts. But like you, very thankful for food in the fridge and friends to laugh through the good and bad with. 🙏

    Liked by 1 person

  9. how fun that the book was returned – and nice that the library dropped the late fees – but they do need to have some kind of system to motivate folks to return things in a timely manner?

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