Once a week, Neil went grocery shopping. He always made a list, but he always forgot to put one or more things on the list. This used to anger him, but now he just accepted it. You're not as sharp as you used to be, he told himself.
It was Friday-shopping day. He went to the $99 Store. Sometimes they had a lot of fresh produce, sometimes they didn't. He got lucky. There were fresh packaged broccoli, carrots, onions, and squash. Also, packages of peaches, plums, and apples. He easily had enough produce to last all week, if it didn't go bad first. The fruit and vegetables alone filled up four plastic bags. Four other bags contained other items that were on Neil's list.
He drove to Albertson's, which sold milk by the gallon(加仑) and at cheaper prices than the $99 Store. Interestingly, the price of milk had got higher in the last month. He used to buy 2 gallons of nonfat milk for $3.59.Now he was paying $4.69. Yet, the news media reports a 2-cent increase in gasoline(汽油) prices. That's all over the news.
He parked his car in the carport and opened the trunk. He managed, as usual, to put all 10 plastic bags into his hands and take them upstairs.
"What a heavy shopping it is," he thought. And then he told himself: if you think it's too heavy now, wait till you can't drive. Wait till you can't even walk up the stairs. How are you going to get your food then The older you get, he told himself, the more you'd better thank the fact that you can still do all these boring chores and housework.