Thursday, January 12, 2006

The Chicken and the Clueless Chick

We were in the meat section of the supermarket last weekend. My wife was choosing some cuts of chicken meat while I was holding our cart, looking for some peeled shrimp (food for Darna) at the adjacent seafood section.

A lady, probably about our age, lackadaisically pushing her cart, approached the chicken meat section. She was busy chatting on her cellphone, oblivious to the people around her. She positioned her cart right between me and my wife so we couldn’t help but overhear what she was saying.

"Late na nga rin ako nagising kanina eh," she was telling the person on the other end of the line. Judging from her smiling sweet voice and lovestruck eyes while chatting, she was most probably talking to her boyfriend.

Turning her attention to the guy tending the chicken meat section, she asked, "Anong part ng chicken ang kailangan ko para isama sa macaroni salad?"

"Breast po ma’am," the guy politely answered her.

The lady paused for a while, thinking while staring at the chicken breast cuts in front of her.

"One kilo kasi yung macaroni ko eh. Tama lang kaya yung one kilo na chicken breast?" she again asked the guy.

I swear, my jaw dropped upon hearing her question. And I tried to look for my wife’s reaction because I was quite certain she heard it, too. And I saw that she was suppressing a smile.

Now, I never claim to be an expert on anything with regard to preparing food, cooking and other kitchen stuff. But, men, I’m not that dumb not to be able to estimate that a kilo of chicken breast is obviously too much to mix with a kilo of macaroni to prepare macaroni salad. Has this girl ever stepped inside their kitchen before?


I wanted to tell her, "Are you sure it's not tinola you intend to prepare? Coz you can buy the papaya from the fruits and veggies section just right there. Choose the not-so-ripe one."

But this lady seemed to be too proud to ask help from friends or relatives regarding things she is obviously clueless about. Or maybe she just likes discovering things for herself. So, let's just let her be.

And so, the guy from the chicken section answered her politely with her inquiry, telling her that it actually depends on how much she wants to put into the salad. And the girl decided to go ahead and buy one kilo of chicken breast.

She then immediately went back chatting on her cellphone.

"May binibili lang ako dito sa grocery para sa ipe-prepare ko para sa 'yo mamaya," she told the person on the other end, then paused again.

"Basta, surprise," she said in an infatuatedly-giggling-teenager-kind-of-way.

Yeah, to whomever it was she was talking with on the cellphone, you’re in for a surprise.

2 comments:

arGlene said...

I can't stop myself from laughing while reading this. :P It's so funny! I remember myself when I'm still starting to learn new cooking recipes including salads. =)

A.R.Martinez said...

The keyword there is "recipes". At least you had a guide on how to do it unlike this girl in this story.

So how was your first macaroni salad? =)