The hunt for OJ

Maybe it's a karma thing, or God's way of telling us to be more frugal, but Kyle & I often find ourselves in the position of wanting to buy something and then not being able to. Don't get me wrong, it's not for lack of trying, it's like once we decide to buy something and get in the car and start to drive to the store, a message must go out over some radio system we don't know of that says, "Attention Target staff, remove all (insert coveted object here) from the store shelves, Meg & Kyle are coming and we do not want their money!" This really is a reoccurring issue with us. It's happened with the most mundane objects: laptop desks, wine bottle stoppers, teeth grinding guards, expo markers. And inevitably, after going to several stores and finally finding whatever it was we were looking for, for the next month we will see the previously elusive object EVERYWHERE, and at a much lower price then what we paid for it.
Sunday night was a particularly horrible experience. Kyle had been feeling stuffy all evening and wanted some OJ (he's convinced that drinking large quantities of OJ will prevent him from getting sick. Personally I'm not sure if it really works or if it's just a placebo effect but if it makes him feel better who am I to comment) so we decided to run out and get a bottle of OJ and some milk since we were out of that too. It was just about 10:00p.m. which may seem late, but remember we don't have kids and we relish the freedom to just get up and go because we realize in a few years that luxury will be gone when we reproduce. So we know from the getgo that Stop & Shop is closed, because in this Puritan rooted state a person can't purchase food on Sunday nights. But no worries, we thought, Walmart will be open- Walmart's always open right? Wrong. After a 15 minute drive we arrive at Walmart, eyes glossy with the promise of low priced OJ (and maybe a bottle of hair dye if I can charm Kyle into it, asmy roots are getting out of control) but GASP- the Wal is closed at 10 as well. It's now 10:05 p.m. and though slightly deflated I am not completely deterred. The Rite-Aid down the street from our apartment- that's gotta be open 24/7. After all, people get sick in the middle of the night and need cold meds right? At the very least it's got to be open until 11 pm. Nope. We ride all the way back to the apartment to the Rite Aid that is close enough for us to walk to from our place if we are feeling ambitious, but it's locked up tighter than the HP novels before their midnight release. Kyle is ready to throw in the towel at this point but he's sneezing so badly it's like listening to a machine gun go off so I refuse to give up." The gas station!" I excitedly exclaimed, pointing to the less than savory looking minimart next to Rite Aid. Kyle feebly agrees, more to shut me up I think than anything else, even though he did point out that the gas station price for a single serving bottle of OJ was likely to be nearly as much as a whole 1/2 gallon of it at the grocery store, but I didn't care, by that point I just wanted to accomplish our goal of getting some darn OJ! So we walk into the mini mart, avoid eye contact with the shady guy swaying at the counter and begin the hunt through the greasy glass cases for a bottle of Florida's best. After nearly 5 minutes of searching we find a bottle of OJ crammed into the cooler in the very back of the store. Triumphant, we march up to the counter where I proudly plunk down the OJ bottle and Kyle brandishes his debit card. And then we exchange a blank stare with the Indian owner who just glares at us and doesn't say anything. After about 30 seconds of uncomprehending silence I ask, "What's the total?" He mumbles, " No card." "What? " "No Cards." Crap. We are so close to OJ glory, and now this. After a minute and a half I finally manage to extract from the owner that there is a $10 minimum charge for debit card purchase. Kyle refuses to buy $7 dollars worth of gas station snack foods so we return the OJ to the cooler (I may have put it back with the label not facing out as a small sign of protest) and return home OJless. All that energy and time wasted and no vitamin C to make up for it. Kyle sneezed all night. But it all ended well-when I got home from work today there was a gallon of OJ in the fridge instead of our usual 1/2 gallon and Kyle had finally stopped sneezing.