The Senior Buffet

I took my mom to Walgreens on her appointed day during my 90 day self exile period. We finished

up and then she said she wanted to go to Sams but first we should stop by Aunt Willa's and pick

her up and that she had tried to call Nan to see if we should pick her up but she didn't answer.

I'm thinking... ok it's a family affair at the Sam's club. Whatever floats your boat.

 My mom said they were having an "event". I'm thinking it's like a sale or something because

Sams never has sales so that would indeed be an event. So we get there early

around 11ish to beat the crowd. There's a big sign at the front door that advertises

Sams "Tasting event" is going on that day. So THIS is what the big day is about. Sams
 usually has a few samples on Saturdays but apparently this day, they are having MUCHO
samples and this is the highlight of the year for a senior. A must attend event. So we went in
and I go to the back of the store. Might as well shop while I'm here. I need some lettuce
and whipping cream. They have a lot of sampling stations but in a lot of cases the food
is still cooking and there are no sample cups yet.   I had a piece of applewood smoked bacon
(not a WHOLE piece but a 1 inch piece) , a piece of smoked deli turkey (not a WHOLE slice
but a 1 inch slice) with a tiny piece of swiss cheese, a piece of real parmesean cheese with
 a 1/2 inch apple cube (which wasn't bad. He suggested a bowl of strawberries with some
shredded parmesean on top for that sweet and pungent flavored mixture). I also had some greek blueberry yogurt and some salmon with some kind of sweet chile sauce on top. The beef
 brisket and the chicken patties with carmelized onions and asiago cheese were
 not done. I looked around but could not spot my seniors soooo, I went back to the front
 of the store and purchased myself a nice juicy Nathan's hot dog with a soda for under $2.
 I think that having samples is all fine and well. It's nice to be able to taste some of those
things without buying this gargantuan package before you even know if you like it or not.
However, it is not my OBJECTIVE to get full. I never expect to  get full from 1 inch portions.
That just is not my expectation and no matter how many 1 inch samples I have, I am not going
to be full. It might take the edge off my hunger but I will NOT be full. Maybe it's just a mental
thing and maybe it's jis' me. And it certainly doesn't make the cut for my social calendar.
The seniors that had accompanied me though were in their element. I ate my hotdog, drank my pop,
went back for more pop, cleaned out my 20 pound  purse and still there was no sign of them.
 I looked at my watch and an hour had passed since I had sat down with my hotdog.
I had been sampling for about 20 minutes before I got the hotdog so we've been in this store
going on an hour and 20 minutes. So I get up to go look for them again. I find them in good spirits.
 Not only have they sampled everything in the store for free but they actually found some non
food items to buy.  Free is the operative word for seniors. This includes sugar (splenda and equal as well )packets at the restaurant, lemon from the restaurant, peppermints and if you are
at cracker barrel, it involves asking for extra syrup, jelly and butter so you can take that home too.
We were at Sams all in all for over 2 hours but guess what. We didn't have to stop for lunch
because they were so full so what a bargain. I'll have to put it on my calendar for next year.