the Great Pumpkin

So I was grocery shopping the other night at Harris Teeter, thought "I'll get a pumpkin here for $3.99 instead of fighting the masses at the pumpkin place". Looked through those I could reach in the big crate, found one that I thought looked pretty good. Not perfect. I don't trust perfect pumpkins. This one has a spot on it's back where it layed/laid/layne in the soil, has a few blemishes on it's front too. It has character.

A while later as my pumpkin and I were happily shopping through the aisles looking for tuna fish, a woman, a total stranger says...and I quote..."You shouldn't buy that pumpkin, it's ugly. There must be better looking ones."

I may have looked around to see who she was speaking to, but I don't remember, shock and all you know. I did reply that I thought it was fine and tried to walk away. She added (no quotes here because I don't remember exactly) 'But you won't be able to carve it.'

Aside: carved pumpkins, aka Jack o'lanterns, scare me! Big mouths with snarly teeth. Triangle eyes and noses...and then light them from the inside so they glow...nope. Don't want it. Don't want to see it. In grade school we had to make our trick or treat bags and we had to paste orange and black triangles on paper bags in the form of a Jack o'lantern. I would always trade once I got home to a plain paper bag. Now, pumpkins carved to look like a flying witch, or a person of noteworthiness, like Martha Stewart or Mel Gibson, I'm okay with, just not Jack o'lanterns.

Now back to the woman in HT...I was able to screw up my face and say "I don't carve pumpkins" and walk away...but what I wanted to say was "What possessed you to make a comment like that to a total stranger?" and "Every pumpkin deserves a home!"

I've been thinking about it..I'm sure she thought she was being helpful pointing out the flaws on the pumpkin. And is that what we do in society now..toss away a person because they don't meet our idea of perfection? Is that why there are so many advertisments on tv and radio and newspapers for plastic surgery, and don't get me started on the reality shows.

Pumpkin has a home in the front garden next to the single petunia out of 5 that lived through the summer.

Knitting news: the shrug is a good 3/4 done. I worked on it last night at the Homeowners meeting while sitting as far away as possible from the table of snacks brought by one of my neighbors...cookies with Jack o'lantern faces.