{"id":79285,"date":"2014-11-07T17:29:05","date_gmt":"2014-11-07T22:29:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/?p=79285"},"modified":"2014-11-07T17:29:05","modified_gmt":"2014-11-07T22:29:05","slug":"squeaky-wheels","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/07\/squeaky-wheels\/","title":{"rendered":"Squeaky Wheels"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_79292\" style=\"width: 610px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sas_supermarket_-_interior-7.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-79292\" class=\"wp-image-79292\" src=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sas_supermarket_-_interior-7.jpg\" alt=\"SAS_Supermarket_-_interior-7\" width=\"600\" height=\"413\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sas_supermarket_-_interior-7.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/sas_supermarket_-_interior-7-300x206.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (min-width: 62.5em) 67vw, 100vw\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-79292\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Vladimir Kirakosyan<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Yesterday was very rainy and everyone was cranky. I was covertly trying to take shelter under the edge of a stranger\u2019s golf umbrella while I crossed the street, when suddenly there was an outraged blast of honking horns and an explosion of profane shouting from several drivers. We all looked over to the opposite intersection, where a large, elderly man in a sateen Yankees jacket and one of those woven plastic fedoras was making his leisurely way against the light, against traffic, and, in the process, blocking the way of a large truck. He seemed oblivious, or indifferent to the commotion he had caused.<\/p>\n<p>A block later, I was in the supermarket, pushing a basket with a broken wheel through the produce section. Someone bumped into me hard. I turned in irritation, but then saw it was the same oblivious old man in the Yankees jacket and figured it was hardly worth it. He banged into me again, in <small>DAIRY<\/small>. He was banging into people all over the place. It was late; I had the grim realization that I had come down with a cold. Always dispiriting, in its petty way.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I got into the elevator to go down to the bulk section, where I planned to buy some dried beans. There was one other person inside: the guy in the Yankees jacket.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re liars,\u201d he said, before the door had even closed. \u201cLiars. This is the second time they\u2019ve lied to me. About <em>queso fresco<\/em>,\u201d he said pointedly, when I didn\u2019t ask. Normally I live for this kind of thing, but I just wasn\u2019t in the mood. I stared stonily at the placket of buttons, willing the elevator to hurry. <!--more--><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s that one manager\u2014Jason!\u201d he continued. \u201cI got his name. I\u2019m going to destroy his career. I\u2019m not a person you want to make disgruntled,\u201d he added menacingly.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>Awesome plan<\/em><em>,<\/em> I thought sourly. Good job on life. Nice hat.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m sure you can find that anywhere,\u201d I said. \u201cThey\u2019re probably sold out. If they don\u2019t have it in, it\u2019s not the manager\u2019s fault. It\u2019s the supplier or something.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The doors were open now but it was taking him a second to shuffle his cart out.&nbsp;He looked kind of like Rumpole, but malevolent.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a specialty ingredient,\u201d he said. \u201cI know about it because I watch Rachael Ray.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOkay, well, good luck,\u201d I said, finally pushing my way out, the little cart squeaking loudly behind me.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cRachael Ray is the most beautiful woman on television,\u201d he said then.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I guess it was sad. But, at the end of the day, I was the one who\u2019d remember the conversation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Yesterday was very rainy and everyone was cranky. I was covertly trying to take shelter under the edge of a stranger\u2019s golf umbrella while I crossed the street, when suddenly there was an outraged blast of honking horns and an explosion of profane shouting from several drivers. We all looked over to the opposite intersection, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":178,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[13115],"tags":[1671,158,125,15967,15169,15966],"class_list":["post-79285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-our-daily-correspondent","tag-cooking","tag-encounters","tag-new-york-city","tag-rachael-ray","tag-strangers","tag-supermarkets"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.4 (Yoast SEO v25.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Squeaky Wheels<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Sadie Stein on remembering the conversations you wish you could forget.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.theparisreview.org\/blog\/2014\/11\/07\/squeaky-wheels\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Squeaky Wheels by Sadie Stein\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"November 7, 2014 \u2013 Yesterday was very rainy and everyone was cranky. 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