Shopping Line Panic

(December 16, 2017)

The wife and I place
our food items on the
check-out line
convery belt slowly
moving the food towards
the cashier with the 
name tag Food Way.
Her last name is 
Expensive.

I reach into my pocket
for the car keys
that has my Shop-Rite
plastic id for the discount
prices on my items.

My right pocket is empty.
My left pocket is empty.
I feel my two back pockets,
even though I NEVER place
my keys in them.

My wife looks at me puzzled.
"What's wrong honey?"

I don't know where my keys are!
Could I have left them in the ignition?

The dreaded feeling of the stomach
dropping hoping the keys have not 
been lost, or fallen through a pocket
with a newly developed hole in it.

In my head I see the thief driving
the Focus up the hill 
laughing as with his
newly acquired asset.

This is almost as bad as losing
a wallet, but with the wallet,
there is so many more phone
calls to make and replacing of
I.D. cards!

DAMN!  What did I do with them?

The casheir hands my keys to me
after scanning the the bar code
on my tiny little red, yellow and black
key card.

DOH!

I am relieved,
and the old lady behind
us turns her head so 
as to not let me see
her laughing,
shaking her head
and rolling her eyes.