I don’t buy the local paper every day, but I should; sometimes I don’t actually go into a place that sells them (when I can avoid spending money here, I go with it), and other days they are all sold out. Recently, on one of the ‘sold out’ days, a friend texted me an article that still makes me giggle. I really do need to pick up the Virgin Islands Daily News on a regular basis – you never know what gems you will find.

Last night, Mother’s Day Eve, I asked Husband to get a loaf of bread from Marina Market while he was out picking up dinner (I was certainly not about to cook, and we had already gone out for a family brunch). This morning, I opened the bag of bread to make sandwiches for Husband and BG. Slice after slice, they all looked like this; the sell-by date was yesterday. I guess at midnight the mold started to grow, and fast.

This afternoon I ran into Food Center to do a quick shop (only needed a few things – am hitting Price Smart tomorrow for the big stuff). I saw some split chicken breasts that looked good and bought them. Two hours later, I was writing a check at the Red Hook Mail Service where I was trying to send an Express envelope before 5 – turns out that if I had wanted it to go out today, I should have had it there by 9 a.m. At any rate (and I think their rates are 30% higher than normal, but it’s close when you’re in a pickle), I double-checked the date with the woman. “15^th, right?” (thinking of the chicken I just bought. “No, 14^th,” she said. I looked up. “Oh right, Mother’s Day was yesterday (now thinking of the bread). Well I just bought chicken at Food Center packed on the 15^th of May, that’s why I thought it was the 15^th.” This struck the woman as particularly funny, and she called to woman the back, “Hey, you want to buy chicken from the future? Go to Food Center – you can buy chicken packed tomorrow!”

Note: it is possible to buy moldy/spoiled/past date food anywhere on the island. I don’t mean to pick on Marina Market. The chicken, however, I can’t really explain.