The Lady Goes Woof

Waiting on line at the supermarket checkout counter, the woman in front of me is holding only a very large colorful box of dog biscuits. The man in front of her is buying many things so it takes a while for the cashier to add up the cost of his purchases. In the meantime, the woman opens up the box of biscuits and starts to eat them. She doesn’t take out one, nibble a corner to see what a dog biscuit tastes like, and then put the rest back into the box. No, she takes out a handful and eats them as if they were potato chips, one after the other. The biscuits are about mid size and she eats three very quickly. I smile at first but then stop smiling when she sticks her hand back in the box, takes out more, and eats these too. She moves forward in the line. Handing the open box to the cashier, she puts the last biscuit she’s holding in her mouth and chews. The crunch is very loud. From the bored look in her eye, the cashier seems unaware that this customer is eating the dog biscuits she’s buying. For one second I think I’ve imagined the whole thing. Maybe I’m going nuts! But turning to the man behind me, I see him smiling. He raises his eyebrows and says quietly “Woof woof.”