You Just Never Know

by Angela Sanford

I was walking through the Dollar Store in Elmsdale on a mission between picking up a prescription and squeezing in an evening meeting. As I made my way  to the front of the store to the checkout line, I spied a new display of Gatorade Zero- smaller bottles and instantly the vibrant lime green caught my eye.

   My mouth watered and I grabbed a bottle, intrigued by the new flavour. I regularly consume, literally on doctors’ orders, a couple of Gatorade each day - usually grape because it reminds me of grape Kool-Aid, a nostalgic, childhood favourite of mine. Occasionally, I switch it up with orange or cherry but the thought of lime was exciting. 

   After my meeting, gearing up for the drive back to Kenetcook, I grabbed the drink from my trunk, twisted off the cap and took a big, eager gulp, only to realize, with disappointment, that was NOT lime! I turned the bottle around to check the label only to discover that the new flavours was Apple Burst – ugh! While not terrible, I was terribly disappointed. I finished off the bottle, though, grateful of two things; that it was a small size and at least I like green apples. 

   The whole moment cast me back to coming home from school one afternoon and grabbing a chocolate chip cookie from the plate on the counter. I took a big bite but recoiled in horror, expelling the remains from my mouth into the garbage can. The  “chocolate chips” were actually raisins – YUCK!

   Worse still was a memory from when I was a young teenager and my youngest sibling wanted a glass of apple juice but was too young to be able to pour it herself. I grabbed the bottle from the counter and filled a glass for her. Let’s be clear, I’m positive I didn’t just willingly do this, she would have nagged me relentlessly until I gave in to her annoying demands, which is why I hadn’t really given any thought to why the apple juice was already on the counter and not in the fridge, considering we were the only two who had been in the kitchen at that point.

   I passed her the red Tupperware glass and almost immediately began to cry and scream. I was baffled and Mum came down the hall asking what had happened. The crying intensified and I truly had no idea what had provoked it, for all I had done was give her the apple juice she had requested, and I explained this to Mum with great confidence of my innocence.

   The realization that I had used the “apple juice” from the counter brought shear panic to Mum as it had actually been Javex Bleach in the container and not the breakfast commodity. The bleach had been stored in the first available container when something had happened to its original jug.

   A call to Poison Control and some quick action by Mum made for a positive outcome – thank goodness! But I’ve never forgotten that moment—and I never, ever trust mystery liquids on the counter and now may even question those in the grocery store.