A weekly wine!

Well, I haven’t yet offered up any of my courier-based stories relating to the delights that supermarket home deliveries offer, but it seems opportune to share with you the grocery delivery incident I had last week!

Firstly, the home delivery systems offered by most of the large supermarkets are, by and large, very user-friendly and it certainly seems to be the easiest way of getting a weekly or monthly shopping known to [wo]man! I’ve probably used most of the main ones by now, as I’m a bit of a fickle creature and tend to go with whoever can offer me the most at the point in time that I need it (and I am still talking about my groceries here … I know your mind, dear reader)! That said, I do have my favourite, as my local delivery guy who offers “roll-over” can testify (and I am still talking about my groceries … etc).

Anyway, last week I flitted to a more “value” provider whose courier duly arrived at my door, clipboard and boxes in hand. Thus equipped, he dutifully waited whilst I untangled the main beast (the one creature more fickle in her passions for all things delivered than I) from her best beloved new man, then tricked the puppy into the dining room (yes, there’s now also a puppy) and he then began the ceremonial handing over of boxes. My son, home from his shift at A.N. Other supermarket of European persuasion, kindly stepped in to help and soon we had a bit of a system going, Supermarket-courier-man, my son and I, with the dogs acting as enthusiastic cheerleaders from the sideline confines of the dining room! It all went very smoothly (considering my supplies required unpacking as we went because I’m still trying to be green so I’d eschewed my rights to carrier bags in favour of the more environmentally friendly loyalty points)! With both my son and myself unpacking our goodies from the delivery boxes it seemed only moments before we were waving goodbye to the gentle delivery man and turning back to organise our purchases into our cupboards. At this point the conversation went something like:
Me: Dear son, did you unpack the wine?
Son: Wine? Have we got wine?
Me: It’s for Christmas, did you unpack it?
Son: I haven’t seen it? Can I have one for helping?
Me: It’s for Christmas, did you unpack it?
Son: Oh, no I didn’t!
Me: Are you sure?
Son: No comment but a very disparaging look, almost daring me to go for the pantomime-like challenge his last comment had invited!
We hunted around the kitchen but no wine was apparent. It was then that the penny dropped and I (as you well know from previous posts, being one of those people who does not do running) flew out of the house at a somewhat surprising pace, to catch the nice young delivery man who was still putting his van back in order. He turned, alerted by the sound of wheezing.
“Have you any wine for me, please? We haven’t got the wine!”
He glanced back into the van and almost spammed himself on the forehead: “that’s because I’ve left a box in the van!”
We exchanged relieved smiles as he unearthed the box and carried it up to the door for me, six bottles of white and a box of tea bags.
“Of course” I told him, “it was the tea bags I was worried about, can’t do without tea bags!”
He handed the box to my son who was languishing on the front doorstep and then turned to me with one quizzically raised Roger Moore eye brow. Now anyone who knows me knows that I am horribly honest and can’t lie to save my life, and the whippersnapper’s eyebrow was enough to shame me! I dropped my gaze and came clean.
“I just ran down the street to get my wine, didn’t I?”
He nodded, woefully. I dared to look up at him.
“That doesn’t look good, does it?”
He shook his head, still woeful.
“You won’t tell will you?”
With a tap at the side of his nose and a hero’s knowing smile, Supermarket-courier-man returned to his van and I returned to the kitchen, to count my bottles and hide them from he who’s not getting his hands on them until Christmas!

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