Clean-Up on Aisle 5

I made a quick trip to Walmart today for some “Fear Factor” items (yes, we’re doing another fear factor, this time for a stake activity). After deliberating over thin or regular spaghetti for the “pick a plastic bug out of a bowl of noodles with your teeth” challenge, I decided on thin and proceeded to load 2 economy size boxes into my cart. When I turned around with the second box I noticed noodles spilling out onto the floor. I grabbed the offending box hoping to stem the tide but unfortunately I grabbed the wrong end and proceeded to tip more noodles out. Finally, I got the torn box upright but I still had to watch the as the pasta in my cart cascaded across aisle 5. I tried to nonchalantly scoot all the noodles together with my sandaled foot but the floor was so slippery and I ended up drawing more attention to myself by sliding around awkwardly trying to tidy up the pasta. Despite my best efforts to be discreet, I received comments from everyone in the aisle. A man walked past and said “Well, accidents happen.” An older lady looked over and said “You be careful there!” and then finally a little girl came up, smiled and said “Do you need help?” Even in my embarrassment I was grateful for her compassion but by then all that was left to do was inform the nearest employee that aisle 5 could use some attention.