The Great Depends Saga

I think you can learn an awful lot watching people around you age.  I remember thinking very early in my adult life that I would love to be like my Grandma Lee when I got old.  Although she's been gone for 25 years, I still miss her and think about the influence she had on my life, and about what a great Gramma she was to all of her grandchildren.  And I remember my Dad saying that his parents always bickered every day of his life growing up and he decided not to replay that relationship.  (I'll bet that promise wasn't always an easy one to keep!) Watching Brad's parents retire made us realize that we would not emulate them.  To quit work and then sit in a chair for the rest of your life wasn't on our agendas.  But then, who knows?  Life takes some unexpected turns and we don't always get what we bargained for.  Anyway, with any luck (?) we'll all grow old, but HOW we do it and how the people around us view us is important.  So, Brad's Mom has lived with us for over a year now and it has been a lesson in patience for me, more than anything.  Oh, there are the small aggravations, but seriously, the Depends thing perplexes me.  I get it.  Sooner or later, we'll all have bladder control issues if we live long enough and if we aren't able to shop for ourselves, we'll have to "depend" on others for our hygiene supplies.  So I am making a promise to my daughters, daughter in-law, husband or whoever ends up running those errands.  I will try hard not to be a pain in your ass(es) when it comes to my personal products.  So this is what happened to prompt this post.  About 10 days ago, Gramma asked me to get her Depends when I went to WalMart.  She whips a product label out of her purse. "Here is what I need", she says.  I forget to take the thing into the store with me, thinking how hard can this be?  They're S/M Depends.  No sweat.  I remember being overwhelmed buying feminine hygiene supplies back in the day, but WOW!, so many different packages!  I picked the one I thought was right and brought it home.

Fast forward to last Saturday when we were visiting my sister in Manitou.  Now every Saturday morning at 10:00, Gramma goes to her "shampoo-set" appointment and this Saturday due to our absence, Carrie was the the lucky chauffeur.  She apparently arrived at our house just before 10 to find Gramma backing her car (badly) out of the driveway (she hasn't driven for several months), her cane laying in the driveway, and the electrical box at the end tilted after just having been hit. She was worried about being late for her appointment, I guess.  Anyway, after the hair appointment, she asked Carrie if she would stop by the store and get some Depends as she said that I had gotten the wrong ones for her. Carrie purchased the product and Gramma thanked her.  Now it's Sunday and I'm going to the grocery store and she asks if I can get some Depends as the ones I had gotten for her were wrong.  Again, she hands me the label and THIS time I'm taking that thing with me!  I scour the shelves of Walmart and there is an empty spot where they would've been.  Crap!

 I drive to Walgreens.  Again, panning the shelves, I don't see the exact label, but a similar one with NINETEEN count. Really, 19 not 18?  I take the package to the checkout counter, stand in line wondering if anyone thinks they're for me, (No, I think, probably not if they see the S/M label) and finally get to the front where the clerk, an older woman, new to the world of computers says, "Do you have a rewards card?  You'll get the sale price on these if you do and can save $2.00."  I deny having the card and she lets me know just how easy it is to get one. "Ok", I say.  "Just enter your first and last name on the keypad". Done. "Now enter your phone number". Done.  "Now enter your birthday, month/day/year". Done.  "Now enter your zipcode". Done.  "Now I have to enter your address on my computer. What is your street number?"  "You don't need my address," I say.  "I HAVE to put that in or you can't get your card."  All of this I do for TWO freakin dollars in savings.

So, what do you think?  Is she hoarding Depends?