Plan B

My first mistake was going to the grocery store hungry.

They were there waiting for me in the vestibule where the carts congregate. I was no match for the tower of blue and white Entenmann’s boxes, sporting bright orange BUY-1-GET-1-FREE stickers.

I considered the Pop’ettes boxes with their enticing photos and red-outlined logos. What was with the apostrophe? Was it a contracted form of two words? If so, what two words? And what letter was this new word missing? It sounds like a World War II, USO performance act. “And up next we have Charlie’s Big Band and the Pop’ettes!”

How long since I had had a donut? At that moment, nothing sounded better than Rich Frosted Pop’ettes – the ones where the chocolate coating breaks easily to offer up the soft inner vanilla cake. Did I mention they were “Buy 1 Get 1 Free”? Only a fool would walk away from such a deal. So I grabbed another box, this time the Powdered Sugar Pop’ettes, a classic.

I continued into the store and began at the produce aisle. While I picked out summer squash and cherry tomatoes, I thought of one of my professors who warned his students not to hold onto their high standards too tightly. “Have a plan A” he encouraged. “Work toward it, sacrifice to achieve it. But,” he continued, “don’t be too good for a plan B.” He explained his point by describing how much he loved a homemade apple pie fresh from the oven with a scoop of Häagen-Dazs French vanilla ice cream on the side. Yet, as much as enjoyed pie from his mother’s kitchen, he was not above enjoying a Hostess Pie from a vending machine on occasion.

I thought about his wise words at checkout while I unloaded the bananas, hummus, oat milk, and Beyond Burgers from my cart, repeatedly sliding the Pop’ettes back on the conveyor belt as I added the canned beans, oatmeal, and bag of nuts in front of my guilty pleasure. I wasn’t doubting my decision; I just wanted to be sure they wound up on top of my last bag.

Different foods pair best with different settings: vegetable soup on a cold rainy day, lobster rolls on the coast of Maine, warm gingerbread after a fall roast at a farmhouse table. Pop’ettes are meant to be eaten out of the box on the drive home from the market.

For dinner that night, I’d roast up the vegetables to serve with a heaping pile of wild rice. We’d have the apple pie from a local farm stand for dessert.

But, on my way home, I’d have a couple Pop’ettes and enjoy my Plan B.