Screw Cap Wine

Taking a chance

    Talking about Egor, the Radio Shack computer, got me to thinking about Radio Shack, the store. The first hubby and I did not have a car – we were saving money by walking or taking the bus, except for those few nice months the first couple of years when the ex drove himself on a moped to the lab and back.

     This helped us save, not only on gas/car insurance/auto repairs – but we only bought enough groceries per visit to the store that were not too heavy to walk home with. And although we could take the bus or go out with friends/family to go to the movies or the mall – our spending was definitely curtailed with the absence of an auto.

      There was a Radio Shack, however, that was within walking distance – near the Boulevard Mall. It was probably 2 to 3 miles from the apartment. I remember us walking there one Saturday in the winter. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground – the snow on the sidewalks had been stamped down already by previous pedestrians – and once we started walking, it was not cold at all.

      We were probably at the store to add something to Egor. So I was just browsing up and down the aisles while hubby shopped for the computer accessory.

Gotta get a picture when I see a screw cap wine

      There were two other shoppers, men, in one of the aisles having a conversation, and from what I could hear, they were talking about wine. Then I heard one of them say with a tone of utter snobbishness, “Oh you are always taking a chance with screw-cap wine!”

      Well that just tickled me so much – I mean, really? This guy has nothing better to do than to be in a Radio Shack on a snow-filled Saturday afternoon, in the middle of Buffalo, and he is putting on airs about wine?

      And the fact that I was being judgmental about him being judgmental just added to the irony, of course.

      Since that afternoon, over thirty years ago now, I can't see a screw-cap bottle of wine without leaning over to whoever happens to be closest to me – husband, child, complete stranger – and saying in a hushed, condescending tone, “you know, you are always taking a chance with a screw-cap wine.”

229 20150817  Screw-Cap Wine