Personal Conversations with Strangers

On Monday I had the fortune of having the day off, but the misfortune of having about a million errands to run, a house to clean and a sick husband. I sucked it up, showered, started the laundry train, cleared the kitchen and the fridge for new groceries, made a meal menu and list then headed out to the great blue yonder. Quick stop at Petsmart, was uneventful. Costco was packed, but I had the fortune of making jokes with my old college roommate via text to pass the time. Then off to the regular grocery store, cause you cant buy everything in bulk, that would be stupid. Here I thought I was going to be in and out in 30 min and on my way home to unload all food and head out for another round of errands, nothing weird or eventful. As I stood in the check out line looking at the cover stories of Kim Kardashian and Beyonce the lady in front of me was very obviously pregnant. The checker lady just had to ask her about it.. things I learned about someone I dont even know.. She is having a boy, it is her 3rd and final child, it will be a scheduled c-section tomorrow, has had c-sections previously and cant imagine doing a vaginal birth, cant wait to get the baby out, husband couldn't leave the tv to do final grocery shopping before major surgery and new baby, is not looking forward to sleepless nights again, she prefers an obgyn that is across the city because they are "clean" (whatever that means), and she has 20 cents in fuel perks saved on her store card. Then she leaves.. and its my turn to check out. The very over personal checker starts asking me questions, so here is how this very awkward conversation went, because I was not about to share as many personal details as the pregnant lady was..

Checker: Oh I miss being pregnant, it was so much fun feeling the baby move and getting to eat whatever I wanted

Me: ( polite smile and nod) Uh Huh

Checker: Have you ever been pregnant?

Me: Nope

Checker: Oh I see you are married, do you not want kids?

Me: yes we do

Checker: Oh, so are you newlyweds? Are you going to start trying for kids soon?

Me: No we have been married for 5 1/2 years (and now im trying to avoid you and your awkward questions by looking for my phone in my purse)

Checker: Oh wow so not newly weds (confusion starting on her face), so are you just waiting for the right time for kids.

Me: ( wishing I didnt do a weeks worth of grocery shopping and had less to check out, because I really want to leave) Um, something like that

Checker: (obviously not getting the hint that i dont want to talk about it) Oh well you shouldn't wait too long because you know it can get harder as you get older. How many kids do you want?

Me: ( furiously fiddling with my phone and pretending not to hear her) Um huh?

Checker: (still not getting the hint) Oh I was just wondering how many kids you want

Me: ( what the hell lady, cant you take a hint and just bag my groceries) "blank stare"

Checker: (finally done with my groceries) Oh did I scan your customer card

Me: Yes

then she gave me the total and I quickly punch in my debit card and got the heck out of dodge.

I didnt want to have a huge infertility discussion with the checker, so I tried to give her the hint to stop asking me stupid questions, but no, she kept prying, so it was awkward. Really these are terribly personal questions, not light grocery store banter, like the weather or the new Tom Cruise movie. Look lady, I don't want to share those kind of personal details with you, cause I dont know you.

I wonder if she is raising her naturally conceived children to be nosy too?