I Got My Cookies After All

Last night I posted a story about going to the new Mariano’s by my house.  In the story, I mentioned that I was going to buy a box of oatmeal raisin cookies but the check-out lines were very long so I put the cookies back on the shelf and left.

Many people told me they felt deeply saddened and spent a couple of hours crying when they heard I did not get my cookies.  It’s an understandable reaction since it is incredibly heartbreaking to discover that a slightly overweight man did not get his box of cookies.  Even now I suspect some of you are wiping tears from your eyes.

So you can understand my surprise when I walked into my office after the second service today and saw a box on my desk.  “What is this all about?” I wondered.

As I got close enough to see clearly a huge smile broke out on my face.  It was a box of oatmeal raisin cookies from Mariano’s!  I began laughing.  These words were written on the box:  “Pastor Dan.  Enjoy!”  It was from my friends Voe, Karen and Matt Zintak.

What a great surprise!  And the cookies are REALLY REALLY good, I might add.

Thank you so much for your thoughtful gift Voe, Karen and Matt!

Love and blessings, Dan.

Checking Out The New Mariano's

A new Mariano’s store opened this week about 4 blocks from my home and I’ve been hearing so much about it that I decided to go take a look.  I went to the store at 7:45 on a Saturday evening because I didn’t want to go when the place would be extremely crowded.

When I arrived I discovered that the place was extremely crowded.  (I’ve never been good at predicting how people will spend their Saturday evenings.)

I will admit it is a nice looking store and it smelled really good in the area where they cook things.

There were lots of free samples of food being offered.  At one point, a young woman approached me with a tray and said, “Would you like to try a sample of turkey, cranberry, walnut salad?”

I said, “Sure.”  And took the little cup.

She said, “It’s good, isn’t it?”

With a little grin I said, “It’s hard to tell from that small sample.  I may have to have another one.”  Then I chuckled.

She laughed and said, “No.”  And walked away.  I’m pretty sure she was joking around.

I wasn’t actually doing any shopping, I was just there to see what all the buzz was about.  However, I did pick up a container of oatmeal raisin cookies from the bakery.  When I got to the cashier area I did a double-take.  Every one of the lines were very, very long.  At least five shopping carts long.

“Oh no.  I don’t think so.” I thought.  “I’m not waiting in any of those lines just to get some cookies.” So, I put the container back and left.

I have a feeling Mariano’s is going to be just fine even though they missed out on the vast profits to be gained from my $3.59 in cookie sales.