Grocery Store Kind of Love

A grocery store kind of love

A kind of love you go to when everything else is closed

And you’re still a kid

Who just wants a snack

Or to go outside

Or to feel ok without anyone else

Wondering why you’re alone all the time

Because this is a grocery store kind of love

When everything is going wrong and you still need to go food shopping 

And you have no money

But you have you

And that’s enough 

That’s the grocery store

Kind of love

Something to rest your head on

When everyone wants you to go away

But they have no excuse so you say you need to buy some juice or some gum

And you don’t buy either

You just wander the aisles

And read the magazine covers

And wonder if those people even go to the grocery store

And you feel kind of bad for them

Because they don’t get to experience 

The crying babies

The stressed out parents

The idiot teenagers trying to flirt

The old people trying to get away with free sample after free sample

That is the grocery store kind of love

Where no one

Even notices your hair is a mess

Or that you hate your dress

It’s just because they pass out free samples of fruit

To the homeless

And I’ve seen people OD

In the seating area 

Next to the bakery

And I wonder where their grocery store love

Went

It probably left them high and dry 

For the corporate big guy

And yet I love my stupid grocery store

There is always someone annoyed at the cashier

And there is always someone complaining about the weather

And sometimes I wonder if I didn’t have my grocery store

What would have happened to me

When I was 17 and incredibly lonely

So that’s what I’m looking for

Is that grocery store kind of love

Where you don’t have to worry 

If they remember your favorite movie

It’s only $5 on DVD 

And you can rewatch your favorite parts

And they can hold your hand when it gets too sad

Or too scary

That’s my grocery store kind of love

Where I don’t have to worry 

If I can get dairy free

Because milk actually makes me sick

And I can’t forget my favorite jerky stick

I never worried about getting fired at the grocery store

 Because I showed up

I tried my best

And that’s true love

When you have nothing to give

But the wreck your parents made 

The night before

And you still pretend you have something to live for

If it wasn’t for my stupid grocery store

I would be just like my grandmother

Scared to open any door

Without knowing what was behind

I now know

You never know

You just open the door

And leap

And one day it won’t hurt so much

Because everyone makes mistakes here

Even the cute girl

With the dark hair

She can fuck up the whole day

And everyone pretends like it’s ok

Because it’s the grocery store

And we’re all fucked up in some way or another

And we all crave each other 

And that’s what happens at the stupid grocery store

People fight each other

And they argue

And they punch the goddamn self checkout machine

Because the world is so fucking mean

But don’t worry!

You can take it out on the nearest employee 

They can handle it

This is their job

To remind you that even when everything is going wrong

It’s the stupid grocery store

And you still need to buy your kid their new health food kick and 

The college graduate wants desperately to go on a new diet

Free of ramen and anxiety

And

That’s the grocery store kind of love

Nothing stops it

Nothing

Not the fucking smoke coming from the goddamn ceiling 

Not the fridges overheating

Not the registers always beeping and blaring

This is the fricken grocery store!

When we want our love we want it now!

When we want to throw in the towel 

We take a walk next to the cheese block

And we pretend we’re not mad

Otherwise everyone else will stare at us

But we’re family

And we love each other 

So we showed up to the goddamn grocery store at the very least

I’ve fallen in love, broken an ankle, got burnt on my ass cheek and somehow managed to become the manic pixie dream girl 

At my local supermarket

Now I don’t know how any of that happened 

Because I HATED grocery shopping

But you know who loved it?

My mom.

You know who used it as an escape?

My mom.

The grocery store was her home

Pretending like she forgot something

And  then wouldn’t stop grocery shopping 

Even when I started crying

But that’s the grocery store for ya

It’s always open

And even when it’s not

There is a gas station right next to it

Where you can buy your stupid lottery ticket

And forget that you are just another idiot 

And that’s the grocery store kind of love

That’s the place I remember my mom

Where we convinced each other that home wasn’t so tough

Where we convinced each other we were enough

But the storms would come and we would just sit in the stupid parking lot

And cry

Maybe for a little bit 

Maybe for forever 

Because who wants to go home

When you have that grocery store kind of love.