I never met a Cornichon I didn't like...

Do you know the cornichon? It would be that the longest story on this blog so far is about a pickled item from Whole Foods. What can I say?

I had never had one until my friend the Penster served them up to us in D.C. a few years ago. I enjoyed and they have made the occasional appearance as an appetizer ever since. Tonight we decided we'd stop by Whole Foods in Mt. Pleasant on our way out of town and pick up a few things for dinner. Eating out for several dinners in a row was starting to weigh heavily on our stomachs. Murray found some tabouleh (not even CLOSE to Kristy's, but whose is...) made with Carolina Gold, while I found some tofu (not PCC's, but okay) and some locally made (really good) brie cheese. We set off to find some crackers and Murray announced, "You know, I just really want some cornichons. But, it silly to get those." But, it was platter night in SC so I insisted.


The most exciting thing happened to us at check-out. I was waiting in line and Murray went to the cafe and found plastic spoons! Can you believe it?! We'd eaten our yogurt this last morning with plastic knives, so it was a road trip find to be sure! While she found spoons I found myself waiting in line behind a man who had chosen to drink his Organic Fresh Squeezed OJ while walking through the store. 


Grumpy-Guy was mad because the price rang up at $3.99 when the sign, "CLEARLY said $3.49!" He sent a sweet bag-girl and Manager-Guy on a wild-goose chase all over the store. (Grumpy-Guy really needed a refund on his 50 cents and wasn't leaving until he got it) while I waited patiently in line saying nice things like, "That's no problem" when the Check-Out-Lady apologized for the wait. When Murray came back with the spoons I exclaimed with joy, "Life is GOOD!" and meant it. I was just that happy. 


Well, guess what! The manager guy came back from his wild-goose-chase and gave Murray and I the jar of cornichons for FREE! Why? You might ask. Because we were, "So nice and cheerful and waited so patiently in line!" If Manager-Guy could read the Seattle-Times Rant and Rave I'd write him one. Free cornichons for politeness totally made my day!