Meet the Yoders... or the Mennonites who work at Yoder’s. One of my favorite trips into town is going to the Yoder’s market. This place has the most amazing spices and homemade breads and cookies. Not badly priced either, I might say. Although !!! My Aunt Susan can be an difficult cuss when it comes to the Mennonites. She thinks they (Mennonites) are hypocrites, mostly because they are nothing like the Amish and that they embrace technology, wear expensive sneakers and eat KFC in the park. (Ok?) So we are shopping at the market, and they have some tomato and herb plants for sale. Susan picks up an herb plant that looks a bit tired and puts it in the cart. When we go to check out, she asks the nice lady in the bonnet if she could have a discount because she’s not sure the plant will survive. After a bit of polite hesitation, the lady calls over the manager who is a younger woman, and that woman looks bewildered and has to call her manager on the phone. This plant was only $1.25 to begin with, but my Aunt insisted the plant was not watered properly and suggests that these people water their plants more often. The manager woman on the phone states that they water the plants twice a day and seems to be a little testy with my Aunt but she shakes her head and walks away with the phone to her ear. I was starting to roll my eyes and I was about to say I would pay the $1.25 for this weak little plant just to move the line. (Yes there were people behind us in line rolling their eyes.) Gosh, $1.25, how expensive is that? The same plant in Denver would cost approximately $3.50, and would not look half as good! Anyway, the manager hangs up the phone, walks over to her little calculator and says she will sell the plant for 95 cents. With a sigh, my Aunt says she will take it and dutifully counts out the change. When I got in the car, I was like, WTH? Susan explains that she loves to aggravate the Mennonites (a gleam in her blue eyes and a giggle) because they seem to look down their noses at everyone. “They make me mad because they are stingy about saving a dime, and that they are supposed to be such great gardeners yet their plants for sale are never watered.” She points out that she liked (very much) disrupting the entire staff “You see, the cashier had to stop what she was doing and call over the manager, who had to stop what she was doing. All the while these two ladies were taking their sweet time thinking I would give in and pay full price.” I laughed and said, well you got them to give you three dimes off that stupid plant. Then she complained that plant should have been marked off by 50%. Now you have to know, I’m in awe of Susan’s attitude and laughing my ass off at the same time. I told Susan I would have to blog this story, and she was like, “why would you do that?” I told her that this was the funniest thing I’d witnessed and that even though I knew her as the kindest soul around, she was a complete bitch at the same time. She giggled her little giggle and made me smile all the more.
I bought a couple of Woopie pies. Aidan was more interested in the fresh salad he could make at Yoder’s and Three Musketeer’s bar. He doesn’t know what “yummy” is until he bites into a Woopie pie. Mom’s vacation gift to Christopher won’t be a stupid t-shirt, but rather $40 worth of spices and homemade noodles from Yoder’s.
BTW, Susan’s blue eyes are exactly like her brother’s were. I see my Dad’s mischievous twinkle in her eyes and face whenever she giggles that evil little giggle I love so much about her.
